THE NATURE OF OUR BUSINESS â€“ STABLE GROWTH - Symrise

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How important is the role of the CEO? The CEO can enable a creative, productive corporate culture, but he can’t substitute for it if it’s missing. The stability and productivity of a company should never depend on one person at the top; they are the result of many individual people in the whole company, who have their own competencies and supplement and increase their competencies through cooperation in a team. A CEO who makes himself too important is heading in the wrong direction. He has to make the others important, give them freedom so they can take responsibility themselves. A CEO who is always the center of attention can be a kind of cult figure, but this would be counterproductive in the culture Symrise is striving for. In 2009, there will be a change of leadership at the top. At the end of 2008, you informed the Supervisory Board that you did not want your contract to be renewed for personal reasons. Does your decision mean for Symrise, in addition to external uncertainties in the global economy, problematic uncertainties within the company? I announced my decision early on so that the Supervisory Board would have plenty of time to find the right successor. In the meantime, I will do everything I can to ensure that Symrise does not lose its strategic focus but, on the contrary, sharpens it further. Does a new CEO mean a change of strategy? The change of leadership is not a change of strategy. The strategy is confirmed by our results. It is important to develop the strategy further. It has to be continually adapted to meet the changes in the market. The leadership of the two divisions in which the strategy is implemented will also remain the same. The divisions operate independently under Achim Daub (Scent & Care) and Heinz-Jürgen Bertram (Flavor & Nutrition). Both divisions have prepared themselves well for the challenges of the market. We’ve learned from last year’s developments. What kind of corporate culture is Symrise striving for? In recent years we at Symrise have tried to build a corporate culture focusing on creativity, individual initiative and personal responsibility. That doesn’t mean that the CEO isn’t important. But his role is not to have the employees focus on him. His task, rather, is to get the employees to focus on the corporate strategy and the results. This is based on a different notion of leadership. The term “manager” is not correct here. Instead of “managers,” one should speak of “focusers,” of people who are strategically and objec- tively focused themselves and therefore can focus others. Strategic focus constitutes the potential of the company, since in the long run strategic focusing leads to results. Such a culture cannot be created on command; it has to be enabled and it takes time. Symrise’s historical roots go way back, but Symrise is a young company. Since our flotation at the end of 2006, a corporate culture has begun to emerge that makes me optimistic. Dr. Linzbach, in conclusion, I’d like to return to Symrise’s strategy. You discussed “The Power of AND” and “indispensable.” What does being “bold” mean in Symrise’s culture? Being “bold” does not determine what we think and do, but how. It is inextricably linked to the other two elements. Being “bold” is the force that gives “AND” its power and fills “indispensable” with life. It makes us bold, but not rash. We are prepared to take risks, but we’re not careless. It forces us to focus on the present, without losing our vision of the future. It may make us uneasy, but not uncertain. It has nothing to do with arrogance, but with selfassurance and entitlement. Being “bold” makes Symrise’s corporate culture an entrepreneurial culture. Being “bold” is the thorn in our company’s side. It reminds us that we can accomplish something, but also that as businesspeople we should never rest on our laurels, that the nature of our business is growth. 36 Annual Report 2008 Symrise AG
Our People Success has many faces. And it never comes automatically. Corporate success is the achievement of many individuals who work together as one company. At Symrise, it is more than 5,000 individuals working on five continents. Annual Report 2008 Symrise AG 37 Unternehmen Company
Page 1 and 2: THE NATURE OF OUR BUSINESS - STABLE
Page 3 and 4: Key Figures € million Sales Scent
Page 5 and 6: 4 - 51 52 - 92 93-98 99-147 148-152
Page 7 and 8: April 25 Symrise organizes the “t
Page 9 and 10: 2008: A financial crisis became an
Page 11 and 12: We can hope that 2009 will bring th
Page 13 and 14: Dominique Yates CFO since October 2
Page 15 and 16: Growth Means Stability - in Nature
Page 17 and 18: OUR THREE BRAND PILLARS The flavors
Page 19 and 20: Flavors and Fragrances Are More Tha
Page 21 and 22: Our requirement is to meet new requ
Page 23 and 24: Innovation Is Never Just About Prod
Page 25 and 26: MORE INNOVATION THROUGH MORE INTEGR
Page 27 and 28: Responsibility Knows No Boundaries
Page 29 and 30: emissions. We require of ourselves
Page 31 and 32: Dr. Gerold Linzbach, speaking with
Page 33 and 34: divisions. At the same time, the na
Page 35 and 36: are increasingly strict and expensi
Page 37: ically examine the costs from the v
Page 41 and 42: A complete Junior Perfumer program
Page 43 and 44: cludes the Symrise share, declined
Page 45 and 46: Attractive Dividend Proposed for 20
Page 47 and 48: The Executive Board and Supervisory
Page 49 and 50: A breakdown of the total remunerati
Page 51 and 52: Report of the Supervisory Board In
Page 53 and 54: Annual and Consolidated 2008 Financ
Page 55 and 56: Detail Index Group Management Repor
Page 57 and 58: As a rule, our flavor, fragrance an
Page 59 and 60: The organizational structure is cus
Page 61 and 62: Flavor & Nutrition Beverages Sweet
Page 63 and 64: Flavor & Nutrition: Innovations and
Page 65 and 66: MARKET SHARE F&F INDUSTRY (total
Page 67 and 68: Financial Objectives and Value-base
Page 69 and 70: half of 2009. After integration cos
Page 71 and 72: SALES BY REGION € million EAME As
Page 73 and 74: RECONCILIATION € million EBIT EBI
Page 75 and 76: “AND” Products Grow Faster Sale
Page 77 and 78: ucts was significantly lower than o
Page 79 and 80: 6. FINANCIAL POSITION Main Financia
Page 81 and 82: 8. OTHER FACTORS RELEVANT TO RESULT
Page 83 and 84: High Performance Sales Training, co
Page 85 and 86: active health promotion programs an
Page 87 and 88: Customer complaints about product q
Page 89 and 90:
The following table shows when our
Page 91 and 92:
› our position on the core lists
Page 93 and 94:
Dr. Gerold Linzbach therefore reque
Page 95 and 96:
Consolidated Income Statement T€
Page 97 and 98:
EQUITY AND LIABILITIES T€ LIABILI
Page 99 and 100:
T€ Balance brought forward Invest
Page 101 and 102:
Notes to the Consolidated Financial
Page 103 and 104:
company is lost. The changed provis
Page 105 and 106:
Further information on share intere
Page 107 and 108:
If the requirements of IAS 39 with
Page 109 and 110:
The sales tax amount that is recove
Page 111 and 112:
opment costs recognized are amortiz
Page 113 and 114:
tion results in a gain, any recogni
Page 115 and 116:
5. SEGMENT REPORTING For the purpos
Page 117 and 118:
2008 T€ Sales External sales Resu
Page 119 and 120:
6. CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT 6.
Page 121 and 122:
6.8.Financial Result T€ Interest
Page 123 and 124:
The interest risk that is hedged is
Page 125 and 126:
The deferred tax assets and liabili
Page 127 and 128:
2008 T€ Cost As at January 1, 200
Page 129 and 130:
8.12. Property, Plant and Equipment
Page 131 and 132:
8.13. Acquisitions Cambridge Theran
Page 133 and 134:
Current bank borrowings are not sec
Page 135 and 136:
A new pension plan was established
Page 137 and 138:
The entity in the US provides healt
Page 139 and 140:
Repayment of Bank Borrowings The Se
Page 141 and 142:
The following table shows amounts r
Page 143 and 144:
Sensitivity Analysis for Derivative
Page 145 and 146:
11. LONG TERM FINANCIAL RISK MANAGE
Page 147 and 148:
continuance Company M&G Investment
Page 149 and 150:
Annual Report 2008 Symrise AG 147
Page 151 and 152:
Responsibility Statement (“Bilanz
Page 153 and 154:
Dr. Peter Grafoner* Horst-Otto Gerb
Page 156:
Symrise AG Mühlenfeldstraße 1 376
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THE NATURE OF OUR BUSINESS â€“ STABLE GROWTH - Symrise

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