Rohm & Haas president and COO to speak at Chemical Heritage foundation investors day conference

J. Michael Fitzpatrick, President and Chief Operating Officer of Rohm and Haas Company (NYSE:ROH), spoke today at the Chemical Heritage Foundation Investor Day Conference and said the company’s focus remains growing both sales and earnings through technology, geographic reach, and operating efficiencies.  Fitzpatrick noted that the company’s portfolio is capable of generating faster growth rates than the overall markets the company serves.  “The Rohm and Haas Company business portfolio is serving a broader range of end-markets today, is less petrochemical dependent, more global, and less capital intensive that 5 years ago,” said Fitzpatrick.  “We have a long history of growing at rates faster than our key markets, and we are well positioned in every geographic region.”

In reviewing the wide diversity of end markets served by the company’s businesses, Fitzpatrick noted that the company serves eight different markets, including high growth segments like electronics, construction and building, household and personal care and packaging.  “Rohm and Haas has a global leadership position in most of the segments in which we participate, and we believe that through Research and Development efforts, we can continue to offer a robust pipeline of new products and technologies that differentiate our product lines,” he said.

Fitzpatrick emphasized that a particular focus of the company is growth through innovation by improving existing products or designing new products that allow the company’s customers to differentiate their products in the marketplace.  “I began my career as a Rohm and Haas scientist,” he said, “and I am a firm believer in the growth potential of good science and have seen this enable our company in the past, and am confident it will continue to fuel our profitable growth in the future.”  In addition to growth through innovation, the company’s focus also includes growth by enhancing sales and marketing efforts, exploiting the company’s global footprint for regional growth, and gaining market share by leveraging efficiencies the company has put into place over the past several years. Fitzpatrick highlighted the recently completed installation of a global Enterprise Resource Planning System, which is helping to transform the company’s information management and technology infrastructure, as a key driver for enhancing productivity and business processes to both gain efficiencies and better serve customers.  “We are now at the point of benefits capture and are pursuing one-time and recurring cost savings in how we operate the company,” he said.

As for global positioning, Fitzpatrick noted that company sales outside North America account for nearly half of the company’s total annual sales, with the largest growth occurring in the Asia-Pacific region.  He noted that in 2003, the company continued to realign its global manufacturing footprint to reflect these changing global opportunities, and opened a new plant in Taloja, India, last August to support the growing Adhesives and Sealants and Coatings businesses in that region.