The gross margin on net sales before carve-out charges in the first three quarters stood at 25.8%, down 1.7 percentage points on last year’s equivalent figure of 27.5%.

Research and development costs were up 4% in the reporting period to €78 million (previous year: €75 million). As a result, the R&D ratio rose slightly to 4.5% (previous year: 4.3%).

Selling, general and administration expenses including other operating income and expenses fell to €230 million over the reporting period (previous year: €251 million). This decline in costs was due to an intensification of the Group-wide “ProImprove” program, which is the basis for an efficient management of costs. As a percentage of total net sales, the selling, general and administration expense ratio was reduced by 1.1 percentage points to 13.3% (previous year: 14.4%).