Mr. van Lede: We presently have three major activities: pharmaceuticals, coatings and chemicals. In terms of profit contribution ' operating income ' well over 40% is pharma, and chemicals and coatings contribute the rest at almost equal levels; though it depends a little on the cycle. It could be a little bit more for coatings or a little bit more on chemicals. In terms of sales, 25% to 30% comes from pharmaceuticals, over 40% from coatings. In terms of employment, it's heavily slanted towards pharma because it is by far the most labour-intensive type of activity, and the investment is heavily slanted towards the chemicals, for obvious reasons.
TWST: The company has activities across a range of geographies; what are
the most important ones for you?
Mr. van Lede: Presently, 55% of our sales are in Europe, in view of our
origin, which is European ' Dutch, Swedish and German. We acquired
Courtaulds and this company is based in the UK. We then have 25% in
North America, and the remainder all over the world, with strong
positions in Latin America, in Brazil in particular, and in Japan and
Southeast Asia.
Tickers included in this excerpt: AKZOY
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