Germany“s Schott group, which manufactures specialist glass, has no plans to float, according to Leopold von Heimendahl, management board chairman of Schott Glas. He added that it may list some of it…
Germany“s Schott group, which manufactures specialist glass, has no plans to float, according to Leopold von Heimendahl, management board chairman of Schott Glas. He added that it may list some of its subsidiaries. However, a decision would not be taken until the Carl Zeiss Foundation has been restructured. A potential candidate is Schott ML GmbH of Jena, which supplies the chip industry. A listing would make it easier for ML to react to the sector“s development pressures. Business is surprisingly good. New orders rose by 28% in the first six months of the financial year 1999/2000 (30.9). Turnover was up 20%. Schott expects 6% turnover growth for the full year, according to Heimendahl. Schott posted losses of some DM 50 million in 1998/1999 due to high restructuring costs. There is growth potential with regard to TFT-LCD glass for mobile phones and laptops. Schott is holding cooperation talks with a US company to develop display glass.