The company said the healthy figures that saw sales (not including discontinued operations) up 22 percent to €8.17bn would also drive further acquisitions to add to its €829m purchase of US omega-3 DHA leader Martek Biosciences at the end of last year.
Chief executive officer Feike Sijbesma said, "cost and cash management supported by an improving economic climate" had driven the results for the company that recently rebranded as, “Bright science. Brighter Living”.
Sijbesma added: "2010 was the last in a period of transformation for DSM to become a focused Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company. We successfully completed our Vision 2010 strategy, including divesting the remaining non-core assets within the promised timescale. Subsequently, through a series of important transactions we have started to build additional strong growth platforms for the next phase of our strategy 'DSM in motion: driving focused growth' as evidenced by the announced acquisition of Martek and the announced joint venture with Sinochem for our anti-infectives business.”
DSM noted an operating cash flow of €1.1bn which put it, “in an excellent position to pursue its strategic growth ambitions.”
The company said the Basel, Switzerland-based nutrition cluster, despite contributing €569m of €752m in operating profit, had been affected by the rise of the Swiss franc by 13 per cent against the euro, contributing to an operating profit figure only marginally more than the €521m operating profit of 2009.
The company said: “The Nutrition cluster is expected to achieve sustained good performance. The Nutrition cluster's results are expected to be positively impacted by the acquisition of Martek.”
It said it would be paying particular attention to high-growth economies like China, “whilst the US and Western European economies are expected to continue their gradual recovery.”