In the first half of 2008, revenue in the EXPRESS Division rose by 1.9% to €6,880 million (previous year: €6,754 million). Since more than half of this was generated in countries outside the euro zone, however, currency effects decreased revenue substantially, by €475 million. Measured in local currencies, we attained organic revenue growth of 7.4%, primarily due to our rapidly expanding international activities. Daily shipment volumes increased by 1.0% in the Time Definite International product line and by 1.3% in the domestic business. We also improved our product yield, above all by passing on higher fuel costs to our customers via a surcharge, which accounted for about half of the organic revenue growth.

In Europe, revenue increased by 5.3% to €3,380 million (previous year: €3,209 million). The total contains negative currency effects in the amount of €64 million, attributable chiefly to our UK business. The underlying organic growth for the region was 4.5%. The new EU member states as well as France, the Benelux countries and the Scandinavian countries continued to develop well in the first half of 2008.

Negative currency effects (€259 million) continued to have an impact on our revenue in the Americas region, which slipped by 9.1%, from €2,100 million in the previous year to €1,908 million. In terms of organic growth, revenue increased by 3.2% in local currency. Business in Latin America once again proved especially strong. Measured against the prior year, we also posted a moderate rise in the United States, where reduced shipment volumes in the domestic time-definite business were compensated by vigorous growth in our other product lines and in international activities.

In the Asia Pacific and EEMEA (Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa) regions, revenue increased organically by 12.8% and 25.3% respectively. Once again, we achieved the highest rates in Russia and the Middle East. The Asia Pacific region again experienced strong growth, even though economic momentum slowed somewhat in China. Negative currency effects reduced revenue in these regions by €155 million but were eliminated in the calculation of organic revenue growth.

Profit from operating activities (EBIT) fell by around 46% in the first half of the year, from €96 million in the prior-year period to €52 million. As in the first quarter, this was mainly attributable to the slackening economy, particularly in the US. This slowdown fuelled the shift from high-margin domestic time-definite to day-definite business in the United States, which prompted higher losses in the Americas region. Moreover, the realignment of the US express business added another €47 million to our costs. In light of the economic environment, the trend in the remaining regions is satisfactory. Return on sales decreased year-on-year by 0.6 percentage points to 0.8% and operating cash flow totalled €79 million.