DKSH extends contract with CEO Joerg Wolle and strengthens its Group Management

Regulatory News:

The Board of Directors of DKSH (SIX:DKSH), the leading Market Expansion services provider with a focus on Asia, has resolved to extend the contract of the President & CEO, Dr. Joerg Wolle, for a further five years term. Adrian T. Keller, Chairman of the Board of DKSH, comments: "Since our merger in 2002, Joerg Wolle has played a decisive role in the success story of DKSH, which reached a further culmination point with the IPO in spring 2012. I am delighted by the fact that, with the renewed extension of the contract with Joerg Wolle up to 2017, we have secured long-term leadership continuity.”

Since the merger, DKSH’s net sales have more than doubled, while profitability has more than quadrupled. With a clearly defined strategy for sustainable profitable growth, the Group is continuously enhancing its position as the leading Market Expansion Services provider in Asia.

Positive trends stimulating business are, on the one hand, the increasing demand from Asia’s markets for western goods, generated by a steadily growing middle class, and on the other, rising demand for outsourcing services. With Asia now at the center of global trade flows, and the pronounced growth of intra-Asian business, DKSH, as the leading group for Market Expansion Services with a focus on Asia, is optimally positioned to benefit from this diversity of growth drivers.

By strengthening its management structure, DKSH is positioning itself for the next phase of expansion. Effective February 1, 2013 Bruno Sidler will assume the newly created function of Chief Operating Officer. In this key central role, the experienced logistics specialist will support the ongoing successful implementation of the strategy for sustainable profitable growth.

Dr. Joerg Wolle, DKSH President & CEO: "DKSH will benefit from Bruno Sidler’s decades of specialist expertise and from his outstanding competence in the logistics industry. This applies specifically to the interfaces between DKSH’s business model, which is focused on sales and marketing, and the capillary distribution of products throughout the Asia region, but generally also in the sector of business services industry, and as an outsourcing partner for multinational and medium-sized manufacturers. Bruno Sidler’s long and extensive experience in Asia, coupled with his Swiss roots, makes him predestined to be an ideal complement and asset for our Group Management team.”

Short biography Bruno Sidler

A Swiss citizen, Bruno Sidler, aged 55, can look back on a successful career in the logistics industry. Over a period of some 25 years, he held various management positions in Africa, Asia and Switzerland with the Panalpina Group. In 1998, he was appointed CEO of Panalpina headquartered in Basel. In 2007, Bruno Sidler joined the Executive Board of CEVA Logistics, Zurich/Amsterdam, where he was initially responsible for the Northern European business before he rose to the position of Chief Operating Officer in 2010.

About DKSH Group

DKSH is the leading Market Expansion Services Group with a focus on Asia. As the term "Market Expansion Services" suggests, DKSH helps other companies and brands to grow their business in new or existing markets. Publicly listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange since March 2012, DKSH is a global company headquartered in Zurich, with 650 business locations in 35 countries – 630 of them in Asia, and employs Group-wide 26,000 specialized staff. In 2011, DKSH generated net sales of CHF 7.3 billion.

The company offers a tailor-made, integrated portfolio of sourcing, marketing, sales, distribution, and after-sales services. It provides business partners with expertise as well as on-the-ground logistics based on a comprehensive network of unique size and depth. Business activities are organized into four specialized Business Units that mirror DKSH fields of expertise: Consumer Goods, Healthcare, Performance Materials, and Technology.

With strong Swiss heritage, the company has an almost 150-year-long tradition of doing business in and with Asia, and is deeply rooted in communities and businesses across Asia Pacific.