In 2010, Merck invested a total of EUR 396 million in property, plant and equipment. This was EUR 71 million or 15% less than in 2009. As in previous years, in 2010 we invested above-average amounts, for example to expand biopharmaceutical active ingredient production in Switzerland. As a result, the ratio of capital spending to total revenues was 4.3% in 2010 compared to 6.0% in 2009.
Individual investment projects, each with a value of more than EUR 1 million, accounted for more than two-thirds of capital spending. In regional terms, Europe accounted for around 77% of the total, with the focus on Germany and Switzerland. In Germany, Merck invested EUR 140 million in both new and expanded production capacities as well as in research and development facilities in Darmstadt and Gernsheim in particular, our two largest production sites. In Switzerland, capital spending totaled EUR 109 million, with the majority of this amount used to expand our biopharmaceutical production facilities.
In North America, we invested EUR 57 million – the majority of which went toward the expansion of pharmaceutical research in the Boston area. Capital spending in Latin America totaled EUR 13 million. Our subsidiaries in Asia accounted for a total capital spending volume of EUR 20 million, with the focus on Japan, Taiwan, China, India and South Korea, particularly for the Chemicals business sector.
Capital spending by the Pharmaceuticals business sector totaled EUR 255 million, with the Merck Serono division accounting for the majority of this amount. As in previous years, the main focus of the investments was on the expansion of our biotech production capacities in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, which again in 2010 represented the single largest investment project of the Merck Group. Around 20% of capital spending in Pharmaceuticals related to headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany.
Capital spending on property, plant and equipment
Capital spending on property, plant and equipment in the Chemicals business sector amounted to EUR 139 million, with the Merck Millipore division accounting for EUR 80 million and the Performance Materials division for EUR 59 million. Performance Materials invested chiefly at the Darmstadt and Gernsheim sites, our main locations, in order to expand and modernize existing production facilities, to improve infrastructure and to construct new research buildings. The focus of capital spending by the new Merck Millipore division was likewise in Darmstadt and Gernsheim. Around EUR 28 million of the division’s total capital spending was attributable to the former Millipore companies, which have been consolidated since July 2010.
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