The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.
(Questions from industry analysts are provided in full, but answers are omitted - download the transcript to see the full question-and-answer session)
Question: Manuel Lorente - Mirabaud Securities Limited, Research Division - Analyst
: My first question is some granularity on revenue guidance. Assuming current FX and your geographic footprint, is it fair to say that the FX headwind
should be around 2%, 2.5% revenue growth?
Question: Manuel Lorente - Mirabaud Securities Limited, Research Division - Analyst
: Okay. And my second question is, again, on guidance. As Bruce perfectly said, 2020 has been a very bumpy year, and extracting conclusions on a
quarterly basis is difficult, right? But assuming that the second half of the year has been, let's say, more -- has seen a better indication of the
underlying reality of the market, right? If you -- on the second half of the year versus the second half of last year, the operational leverage of the
company has been roughly 20%, right? When I look at your guidance, and assuming a mid-range indication of that guidance, that is pointing out,
on an operational leverage, improving roughly to 30%, 35%. So I was wondering what do you see for next year to improve the operational leverage
versus the second half of this year? Is it further synergies? I don't know.
Question: Christoph Greulich - Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Research Division - Analyst
: Two questions from my side, if I may. The first one is with regard to the raw material. So could you please provide us with some color on what you
are seeing, what kind of trends you're seeing, in the raw material markets you're exposed to? And do you believe that your price increases will be
enough to offset any potential negative impact on the gross margin? And then secondly, if you could also provide us with some color on the
progress with regards to the revenue synergy targets that you have outlined in your strategic plan?
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