What kind of growth do you aspire to in the next few years; in which sectors, markets or regions do you see significant growth opportunities?

Our chemical distribution business has been focused on specialty chemicals and ingredients for industrial, personal care, pharma and food applications that require technical and regulatory know-how and often take years to develop and commercialize.

Regionally we are focused on Western Europe, and the outlook for this region has definitely improved since last year. We aim to continue outgrowing the market in our key industries based on our strategy for sustainable, profitable growth.

Its execution is supported by investments done during the last years into technical sales, formulation services and regulatory support.

How do you intend to implement these plans and seize these opportunities?

Many applications we developed with our customers will be commercialized in the next years. The environment continues to become more challenging in terms of regulatory needs, while our customers dedicate their R&D capabilities on value-added and innovative products. We are confident that our strategy to focus on these areas was, is and will be the most promising one. We will continue to invest in dedicated specialists for our global sourcing organization that today covers all major regions in order to add innovative and cost-efficient suppliers to our product portfolio. We have dedicated resources to manage and develop our key supplier relationships and offer customized services and know-how that go beyond traditional relationships between suppliers and distributors. Last but not least, we intend to expand via selective bolt-on acquisitions in order to enhance our regional coverage across Western Europe.