¹Pursuant to IFRS, without discontinued operations

The globally favorable business climate for capital goods and in the mechanical engineering sector continued in 2007. Thanks to its wide-ranging product portfolio, our Industrial Technology business sector once again capitalized on this positive trend, achieving strong, above-average growth. Its sales increased by 9.4 % to a total of 6.0 billion euros.

Our subsidiary Bosch Rexroth AG in particular maintained its successful development. It offers all major technologies for drive and control applications – from electrics and hydraulics to pneumatics. Once more, the growth driver was hydraulic technology for mobile applications, which includes components for off-road vehicles such as agricultural and construction machinery. Above all, Bosch Rexroth was able to benefit from the very high demand in Asia and Europe.

We also extended our strong position in the fragmented global market for packaging technology, recording further growth especially in Asia, and above all in China and India. The boom in the pharmaceutical sector and the foodstuff industry generated a high intake of orders.