Specialty packaging manufacturer Gerresheimer, which produces for the pharma and cosmetics industry, considers itself to be on track following slight growth in the first half of the year.

Growth was once again driven by the Plastic & Devices Division with its inhalers, pens and pre-filled syringes, for example for the globally booming withdrawal syringes with the active ingredient GLP-1, said CFO Bernd Metzner in an interview with Reuters on Thursday. "GLP-1 really is an important product for us."

In the first six months, sales increased by 1.7 percent to 968.5 million euros and the adjusted operating result (EBITDA) by 2.9 percent to 188.2 million euros. Metzner announced that the stocks of glass ampoules built up by customers were slowly decreasing and that higher growth rates could therefore be expected in the second half of the year. He confirmed the annual targets, which envisage an increase in turnover of five to ten percent and an adjusted EBITDA of 430 to 450 million.

The news was well received on the stock exchange: The shares traded a good two percent higher in early Frankfurt trading.

(Report by Anneli Palmen, edited by Myria Mildenberger. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)