DKSH shows Growth in 2014 despite Currency-related Pressure

Specialty chemicals distributor DKSH AG (Zürich, Switzerland) earlier this week reported sales of CHF 781.9 mn (up 1.5% from the 2013 level of CHF 770.1 mn) for the Performance Materials division. The resulting EBIT amounted to CHF 52.5 mn (down 3.5% vs. the CHF 54.4 mn in 2013). This EBIT-margin level of 6.7% is the highest of all divisions in the group.

At constant exchange rates the 2014 values were CHF 821.3 mn (up 6.6%) and CHF 55.9% (up 2.8%) respectively. The BU Performance Materials represents 8.0% of the net sales and 16.2% of the EBIT of the company.

DKSH had acquired ZEUS Quimica (Barcelona, Spain), a regional distributor for specialty chemicals, with activities Spain and Portugal, in June 2014. The company said it plans to make bolt-on acquisitions, in order “to quickly gain critical mass or fill gaps in underrepresented areas”.

Overall the company has posted net sales of CHF 9.8 bn, an increase of 2.7% (CHF 10.2 bn or + 7.1% at constant exchange rates).

Source: DKSH annual report, for a full text see http://www.dksh.com/data/docs/download/144490/en/DKSH-Annual-Report-2014-final.pdf

HGE – DCG / 28.02.2014

DistriConsult comment:
DKSH sees itself as the leading provider of “Market Expansion Services”, a term that was developed a few years ago, jointly with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. The group expects to be a consolidator in what it considers a rapidly growing, yet still fragmented industry.