Merging Novozymes and Chr. Hansen into a unified biological solutions group has happened at a very high pace for Novonesis. And that’s why expectations for 2024 have been given a boost ahead of the group’s capital markets day in London on Tuesday.

Ester Baiget, CEO of Novonesis, is all smiles as she reflects on her first four-and-a-half months as CEO of the combined group in an interview with MarketWire.

”We see good momentum in all sectors. We have an expectation of 5-7% sales growth, and with the positive momentum and also the extremely smooth integration, we are now at the high end,” she says.

”And it’s not just top management that has ensured this - it’s particularly good work by everyone on the team. We are doing many things at once and remain on top of the situation,” says the CEO.

The integration hasn’t been lost on the floor either. Cost synergies have already reached a run rate of 80% by the end of June, compared to the previously expected 50% for the whole of 2024, which is significantly ahead of schedule.

No merger without layoffs

Ester Baiget explains that everyone is involved in the integration of the two different company cultures - for example, the temperature of employees is taken every month.

”We check the atmosphere via an employee survey every month. It takes five minutes to answer, but it’s extremely important for us to keep track of how people are feeling. And we have a response rate of around 80%. And that’s on the high end,” says the chief exec.

However, it is difficult to see merger and see cost synergies of around DKK 200m over three years without also saying layoffs. And this has also happened in the process at Novonesis.

”We have around 400 positions where there have been dual functions. And in total, around 300 colleagues have left us.”

”We’re a growth company - and when you combine two into one, there are some overlapping positions. You don’t need two CEOs, you don’t need two heads of IT functions and so on. And now we’ve streamlined the organization so we can focus on growth,” says Baiget.

”We are now in a good place. We’re done defining the organization,” she points out. 

(English edit by Kristoffer Grønbæk)