Zurich, April 23 - Swiss drugs industry supplier Lonza Group Ltd confirmed its forecast until 2013 on Wednesday, but warned high raw materials prices and the weak U.S. dollar were putting pressure on its business.
Lonza, which has restructured its business away from specialty chemicals to sell more higher-margin pharmaceutical ingredients, said higher costs and the weak dollar would force it to increase prices further for its products.
The Basel-based company confirmed it expected percentage growth in earnings before interest and tax in mid to high teens until 2013 and saw strong earnings per share growth this year due to its sale of a minority stake in Polynt SpA.
Basel-based Lonza trades at about 16 times forecast 2009 earnings, according to Reuters data, a significant premium to specialty chemicals companies Clariant AG and Ciba Holding AG, which are more exposed to high energy prices.
Lonza shares command a premium over pharmaceutical stocks like Roche Holding AG and Novartis AG, both also based in Basel, which have been hit by increasing competition and tougher paths to market.