For fiscal 2007/2008, we anticipate a rise in EBITA (Glossary)  to around €205 million. A further increase of 8% should be possible in fiscal 2008/2009, in line with our long-term planning forecast.

These figures rely on achieving an increase in net sales volume. We expect to benefit from additional economies of scale, as a result of a pronounced rise in product deliveries and the expansion of our product-related services. Furthermore, we anticipate a greater contribution to profit from continued growth in the high-end range of our hardware, software and services.

We shall continue to implement and intensify measures to boost efficiency and reduce costs, for example, through our successful ProImprove program, which involves targeting selling and administration expenses. In recent years, we have been able to scale back the proportion of these costs to total net sales to an exemplary low level within our industry, a course we aim to pursue in forthcoming years.

We anticipate that the Group’s tax rate of 32% will again decrease due to a number of factors, including the German corporation tax reform, which will affect Wincor Nixdorf in Germany from fiscal 2007/2008 onwards.

Thanks to these comprehensive measures and the ongoing expansion of our business, we shall again be in a position to offer an attractive dividend to shareholders as their share in the success of the Group.