The Group improved its operating performance in 2006: Revenue rose by 35.8% to €60,545 million, slightly in excess of our expectations. This rise is due in particular to the successful integration of Exel in our logistics business and of BHW in the Postbank Group. EBIT improved by 2.9% to €3,872 million, in line with expectations. Whereas a large number of non-recurring income and expense items were recorded in the previous year, relatively few such one-time factors occurred in 2006, as has already been reported in the course of the year.

In the MAIL Division, we recorded EBIT of €2,054 million, slightly in excess of our target figure of €2 billion, thanks to effective cost management and foreign expansion. This result was achieved despite the continuing decline in volumes in the domestic mail business.

At €325 million, EBIT in our EXPRESS Division was within our target range of €300 to €400 million. The monthly results for the second half of the year show that a turnaround is now under way in the USA. Europe, Asia Pacific and the Emerging Markets all recorded improvements in earnings.

The LOGISTICS Division continued its positive development this year while integrating Exel, generating EBIT of €762 million, corresponding to our forecasts.

FINANCIAL SERVICES also maintained its existing trend: Thanks to Postbank’s ongoing strong operating performance, EBIT improved by 16.3% to €1,004 million, despite the charges incurred in relation to the integration of BHW.

The new SERVICES segment recorded EBIT of €–237 million. This figure also includes one-time factors that cannot be allocated to individual divisions. Chief among these were income of €276 million from the early redemption of the exchangeable bond on Postbank stock and income of €89 million resulting from the positive outcome of arbitration proceedings against Deutsche Telekom.

Earnings per share dropped to €1.60, mainly due to the increase in finance costs and minorities.