Lonza to close three sites, push small molecules costs down

12 January 2010 17:58  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Lonza will close its sites at Conshohocken (Riverside) in Pennsylvania, US, at Shawinigan in Canada and at Wokingham in the UK in 2010 to reduce fixed costs in the more volatile market environment, the Switzerland-based company said on Tuesday.

The fixed-cost-reduction target was Swfr60m-80m ($59m-78m) over the next 18 to 24 months, the company added.

The closures would cost 175 jobs and the company said it would take Swfr140m in restructuring charges related to the closures. Some 75% of that figure would be related to the restructuring of the firm's small molecules businesses.

Lonza said that 70% of the charges would be non-cash. Full-year operating profits before restructuring charges related to the three site closures would be well within the range of Swfr360-380 indicated in the third-quarter 2009 results announcement, it added.

The closures are seen as the next step of the strategic move of small molecules production towards Asia, where the company has operations at Nansha in China.

($1 = Swfr1.02)

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By: Nigel Davis
+44 20 8652 3214

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