DKSH expanding regional partnerships

DKSH has weathered 2021’s various challenges to come away with impressive financial results

In late January, DKSH Business Unit Technology expanded its partnership with TA Instruments to promote their thermal analysis, rheology, microcalorimetry, and mechanical analysis. DKSH will provide marketing and sales, after-sales services, and application support in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Hanno Elbraechter, head of Business Unit Technology, said, “TA Instruments has strong brand recognition and a good reputation for high technology products and quality manufacturing. Leveraging our extensive sales coverage, our own centre of excellence with product demonstration, application development capabilities, and unparalleled after-sales services, we are confident to successfully drive market share and help TA Instruments expand its business in Southeast Asia.”

Last year, Business Unit Technology also expanded its strategic partnership with Binder, a market leader in simulation chambers and incubators for scientific and industrial laboratories. Under the expanded partnership, DKSH will provide marketing, sales, and after-sales services across the Vietnamese market.

DKSH has been a trusted partner of Binder in Thailand for more than 15 years. In 2020, both parties entered a strategic partnership agreement across several Asian markets, including the north of Vietnam. Considering the growing market in this country, DKSH’s service scope has now been expanded to cover the whole nation.

Binder’s technical solutions range from high-tech chambers for tempering, climatisation, incubation, and simulation of environmental conditions that can be applied in various areas, including chemical, pharmaceutical, biotech, medicine, institutes, universities, test laboratories, food, electronics, plastics, building materials, and automotive industries.

In August last year, Business Unit Technology announced an investment in its scientific instrumentation business by opening its laboratory at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology.

DKSH Vietnam has acquired an extensive distribution network across all Vietnamese provinces since 1991, partnering with hundreds of brands and serving hundreds of thousands of businesses and millions of consumers in the market. The company is currently operating in consumer goods, healthcare, performance materials, and technology.

The group has also increased partnerships with many business leaders to expand operations in Asia-Pacific. A number of other agreements were signed during last year and early 2022. Partners include Printers Supply Company, Skalar, Leica Microsystems, Micro-LAM, and high-performance wind turbine group FlowGen among others. More tie-ups are expected in the months to come.

DKSH posted strong full-year 2021 results. Net sales grew by 5.4 per cent at constant exchange rates as well as free cash flow increased by double digits.

In particular, Business Unit Healthcare delivered results ahead of last year’s levels with an acceleration of performance during the second half. Despite 2021’s hurdles, DKSH expanded its outsourcing services as well as business development and successfully closed the acquisitions of MedWorkz in Singapore and Hahn Healthcare in Australia. Importantly, DKSH also delivered vaccines and testing equipment in several markets across Asia. DKSH’s CEO Stefan P. Butz said, “Given the challenging market environment, I am pleased with our 2021 results including double-digit earnings before interest and tax growth, and strong cash generation. We continue being the trusted partner for our stakeholders and reliably supplying essential products and services through and in response to the pandemic.”

In addition, Butz added, DKSH completed seven acquisitions and increased e-commerce sales by double digits. “While visibility on external factors remains limited, we are confident that we will continue building a better company with growth in 2022,” he said.