Employee representatives consulted as Lanxess restructuring begins

The Board of Management at German specialty chemicals company Lanxess AG initiated a company-wide restructuring programme at its meeting on 24 July, however detailed information about the shape this restructuring will take won’t be made public until later this year. At present, the measures planned as part of the programme are being discussed with the company’s Supervisory Board and employee representatives.

In a statement announcing the restructuring programme’s start, Lanxess only wrote that “administrative structures and decision-making processes are to be streamlined. Customer and market orientation in the business units will be further improved.” However a clearer sign of what’s in store for Lanxess was given in early May, when the company reported on its first quarter, a period described as a “modest start to 2014.” At the time, Lanxess indicated the measures under consideration included temporary or permanent plant shutdowns.

Last year the company recorded a net loss of €159 million; net income in 2012 was €508 million.