Altana "buy"

08/24/04 - Merrill Lynch

LONDON, August 24 (New Ratings) - Analyst Andreas Schmidt of Merrill Lynch maintains his "buy" rating on Altana (ALT). The 12-month price objective is set to €64.

In a research note published this morning, the analyst mentions that Altana expects to post sales growth of 8%-9% in the current year. The company has projected pre-tax profits of €600 million in 2004, the analyst says. The company expects steady growth in is Pantoprazole franchise and further improvements in its chemical business in the near-future, the analyst adds. Altana expects to gain 15%-20% market share of the $2 billion corticosteroid monotherapy market, according to Merrill Lynch.