Swiss Sika's Colombian Unit Sees Sales Growing 10% In 2009
Sika, which manufactures glues, acrylics, mastics, epoxy coatings and other chemical products for the construction industry, expects sales this year to rise 10% from last year, but the expansion is slower than the 18% growth reported in 2008, Ernesto Mayorga, general manager of Sika, told Dow Jones Newswires on Friday.
Sika expects its sales revenue will rise to as high as 192.5 billion Colombian pesos ($92 million) in Colombia, Ecuador, Central America and the Caribbean, up from COP175 billion last year.
Sika made a net profit of COP15.4 billion last year. It expects its net profit to grow around 8% this year, mainly by containing its operating costs.
"In Colombia, we have seen a slowdown because of the drop of construction licenses," Mayorga said. "In Dominican Republic, the decline has been steep, as large hotel projects have been abandoned since October."
Sika recently spent COP27 billion on the construction of a new plant in Colombia, the third in the country, to supply the local market and to export to Central America and Venezuela. Sika inaugurated the plant in the Colombian city of Tocancipa, about 21 kilometers north of Bogota. The plant will produce materials for the construction sector, acrylics and mastics.
Colombia represents Sika's largest operation in Latin America as it exports to six countries in the region, including the Caribbean and Central America. The Andean nation is also the company's fourth-largest distribution market in the world after Spain, France and Germany, Mayorga said.
-By Diana Delgado, Dow Jones Newswires; 571-6107044 ext 1132; diana.delgado@dowjones.com
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Publié le 03 Juillet 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones
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