Its home and personal care segment will be integrated into other divisions

Ciba Specialty Chemicals is to integrate part of its home and personal care segment into its plastics additives business under a streamlining exercise that will reduce its five divisions to four.

Plastics additives will now incorporate the speciality effects products from the home and personal care segment, while whiteners and hygiene will form part of water and paper treatment.

Announcing the changes with its half yearly statement, Ciba said it has been unable to find critical mass for the home and personal care segment and will generate savings by absorbing it into other divisions.

Ciba said sales in its plastics additives segment grew by 3% based on new product innovations, higher volumes and improved product mix in the first half of the year. Under the revised organisation plastic additives turned over SFr904m (E589m) in the first six months of 2004, accounting for 28% of group sales.

The company said it was well advanced with the integration of its recent acquisition Pira, which is already contributing revenue to the newly formed Ciba Expert Services unit. Pira has announced plans to relocate within Leatherhead over the next six months to an 18-acre ERA Technology site.