Belgium's Solvay places emphasis on growing pharmaceuticals further

Solvay of Belgium says that it ended 2000 with a 13% increase in salesto 8.86 billion euros ($8.31 billion), while net earnings rose 2% to 433 million euros. This latter figure was due principally to charges linked to writedowns, amortization and reserves for litigation, and the company noted that it ended the year with cash of 984 million euros, up 3%.

Solvay's processing, plastics and chemicals sectors all performed well, but the company highlighted the results of its pharmaceutical division. Sales at the unit rose 15% to 1.55 billion euros, though pretax profits fell 15% to 134 billion euros due to higher marketing expenditure and improvement in quality procedures required by the US Food and Drug Administration.

In geographic terms, Solvay Pharmaceuticals "achieved clear success" in Japan (where sales were up 35%) and North America, where turnover for the USA and Canada climbed 24% and 64%, respectively. In central and eastern Europe, Solvay noted that sales have grown 20-fold in 10 years, while the firm's recent acquisition of Sintofarma in Brazil (Marketletter October 9, 2000) helped push up revenues in Latin America.