The MAN Roland Group, the world's leading manufacturer of web offset presses and the world's second-largest supplier of printing systems, recorded an increase in new orders in the first half of 2001. Compared to the previous period last year the number of new orders increased by 4% to EUR 1.171 million. This favorable development is all the more surprising in view of the extraordinarily high number of orders received last year as a result of the drupa 2000, the world's largest printing industry trade fair which is held only every four years. At a total of EUR 967 million, sales are 8% less than the sales achieved last year. Since the beginning of the current financial year orders on hand have increased by 15% to EUR 1.621 million. As of June 30, 2001, the MAN Roland Group employed 10,652 persons. In the first half of the current financial year, MAN Roland Group earnings before taxes was EUR 32 million (previous year EUR 60 million). The numbers recorded last period (between January and June 2000) cannot be used as a comparison because the end of the 1999/2000 financial year, characterized by the period's normally high number of press and production system purchases and related agreements, was included in the first half of 2000. Following the incorporation of the short financial year covering the period from July to December 2000, MAN Roland made its financial year the calendar year to comply with the MAN Group accounting practice. Based on the high number of orders on hand and the high degree of capacity utilization booked for the entire 2001 financial year, MAN Roland is now confident it will exceed the previous full financial year's (1999 – 2000) earnings before taxes of EUR 79 million. Selected highlights of the first six months MAN Roland Druckmaschinen AG and Pape + Partner Media GmbH (PPI) decided to strengthen their foregoing cooperation by creating a development and sales partnership in order to better meet customer desires for integrated and open system solutions. PPI is based in Hamburg and is the market leader in digital workflow in newspaper production. The digital system business unit, which is expected to play a significant role in additional MAN Roland growth, enjoyed further impetus: the DICOweb from MAN Roland, the first fully digital offset printing press which was presented for the first time at the drupa 2000, was honored yet again and awarded the renowned GATF InterTech Technology Award 2001. Since 1978 the US American GATF foundation (Graphic Arts Technical Foundation) has been presenting the annual award to outstanding technological developments that promise to greatly influence the graphic arts industry. The award will be presented at the end of October 2001 in Florida. This is the second time MAN Roland has received the coveted award; the first time was for the ROLAND 700 sheet-fed press in 1994. New orders New orders for the MAN Roland Group increased by 4% in the first half of the 2001 financial year (compared to the first six months of 2000) to EUR 1.171 million. This is clearly a positive development in view of last year's order position, which includes the high number of drupa orders. Both the web-fed press sector, with its 19% growth increase, and the trade and services sector, which grew by 10%, have contributed to the increase in new orders. The sheet-fed press business sector recorded 13% fewer orders compared to the previous period because of the high number of drupa orders placed in the calendar year 2000. Sales As expected, sales of EUR 967 million in the first six months were 8% less than last year. Applied accounting methods result in web-fed press numbers 14% less than the previous year's values, with sheet-fed press numbers 13% less than last year's values. In contrast, the trade and services business sector grew by 17% in the first six months. Orders on hand On June 30, 2001, MAN Roland Group orders on hand reached a record value of EUR 1.621 million. This number represents an increase of 30% compared to the previous period. Compared to the number of orders on hand at the beginning of the financial year, this record value represents a growth of 15%. Employees As of June 30, 2001, the MAN Roland Group employed 10,652 persons (excluding temporary personnel and trainees), or 404 more persons than on December 31, 2000. This increase includes 228 employees from the integration of Brüder Henn, Vienna. Capital expenditures Capital expenditures totaling EUR 30 million (previous year: EUR 29 million) focused on further optimizing and streamlining productivity in production and assembly. Six-month results and outlook In the first half of the current financial year earnings before taxes of the MAN Roland Group totaled EUR 32 million. Based on the high number of orders on hand and the high degree of capacity utilization booked for the entire 2001 financial year, we are now confident that earnings will exceed the previous full financial year's (1999/2000) earnings before taxes of EUR 79 million.