The gross margin on net sales before carve-out charges declined by 0.4 percentage points in the first nine months of the fiscal year, down from 25.8% for the same period a year ago to 25.4%.
Research and development costs remained unchanged year on year at €78 million. The R&D ratio was 4.6% (previous year: 4.5%).
Selling, general and administration expenses including other operating income and expenses declined slightly in the period under review to €229 million (previous year: €230 million). As a percentage of total net sales, the selling, general and administration expense ratio rose by 0.3 percentage points to 13.6% (previous year: 13.3%).
