In the first nine months of fiscal 2009, Gerresheimer AG achieved sales of €744.3m (prior year €783.4m). The cosmetics sales, which accounts for only 10% of total group sales, remained weak as expected. For the fourth quarter, Gerresheimer expects an increase in demand for pharma packaging and a slight recovery in the cosmetics business. It has accordingly quantified more precisely the outlook for the full financial year 2009. Organic growth in the fourth quarter will be offset by the weak dollar exchange rate. For the full year a small sales decline of between 1.5% and 2.5% and an operating margin (adjusted EBITDA) of around 18.5% are expected.
According to the company, however, the turning point has been passed. Thanks to rising demand and falling inventories, slight growth is expected for the pharma business in the fourth quarter. In the cosmetics business a slight improvement in demand is also evident, while in the Life Science Research segment no real recovery is foreseeable. For fiscal 2009, Gerresheimer has quantified more precisely the outlook last given in July 2009. For the full year, the company assumes a slight sales decline of 1.5% to 2.5% and an operating margin (adjusted EBITDA) of around 18.5%. For the full financial year 2009 a total investment volume of around €85–90 million is expected.