Hike in profits at H&R Wasag
in 2003, helped by a reduction in oil prices since the end of the
war in Iraq.
H&R Wasag is expecting to beat its own profit forecasts for 2003 after putting in a good financial performance in the third quarter. The company had predicted pretax earnings of €8.3 million for the year, but now says it may top this by around 8.6 per cent.
A spokesman for the company, which makes pharmaceutical and chemical raw materials and plastics, told In-Pharmatechnologist.com that the primary reason for the improvement was the change in oil price over the past few months.
H&R Wasag's performance in the first half was affected by the hike in oil prices caused by the Iraq conflict, which in turn increased its raw materials costs and cut into its margins. Now that the worst of the fighting is over, oilprices have dropped and margins have improved, he said.
Sales for 2003 are expected to reach around €214 million, up from €191 million in 2002. The largest contribution to this total is the pharmachem division, with revenues of €146 million last year. For 2003, the spokesman predicted that turnover at this division would be at around the same level.
In 2004, as a result of H&R Wasag's takeover of BP's European specialtyrefinery activities, the company expects sales to more than double to afigure approaching €500 million "with a parallel positive development inresults."
Meantime, the company is in the process of switching to International Accounting Standards from the current German system. This will have the effect of trimming profits slightly as a result of increased pension commitments.
