Turnover in Europe expressed in local currencies was up by an impressive 26.1 %; 17.4 percentage points of this is due to growth fuelled by acquisitions. The companies and businesses we have acquired are adapting well to the Sika culture, and are operating according to plan. Turnover in North America declined slightly as a result of the weakening economy, but Asia/Pacific and Latin America achieved significant internal growth.
Performance in the 2001 business year is likely to be more modest, but still in line with our medium-term targets. We expect sustained organic growth this year despite the overall economic slowdown; this will be due to our world-wide market presence, our comprehensive product range and the support of our strong and flexible subsidiaries. Our focus will lie on improving efficiency in terms of both commercial operations and production in order to cope with the current pressure on margins. We plan to invest around CHF 140 m in tangible fixed assets.
Our final result for the year will be heavily dependent on future raw material prices and exchange rates. Since these external factors are beyond our control, we are not making any prediction as to our performance to the end of the year at this early stage.
Please click on the link below to open the letter to shareholders about the business performance 1st quarter 2001 as a .pdf document.
