Business activity:
The pre-tax turnover amounted to 267 million euros (+1.7%). At a constant exchange rate and scope, the increase would be 4.3%.
This increase is due to the consolidation of business in France, sustained growth in Belgium and Switzerland and a very slight increase in business in Great Britain. Sales in Japan, adversely affected by the yen exchange rate, remained stable, on the basis of stable exchange rates.

Results
Operating profit rose from 7.3 to 11.2 million euros (+53.2%) and operating profit before tax/extraordinary items from 5.1 to 9.9 million euros (+95.2%).
Achievement of this very good performance is confirmation of a recovery for Damartex and of the efficiency of the measures taken in the past few years.
Net profit fell from 6.9 to 4.2 million euros. This decrease should be relativised, inasmuch as it is attributable to increased taxation and the inclusion of extraordinary items in the accounts.

Financial structure
Shareholders equity amounts to 115 million euros, thanks to the increase in capital prior to the split and to improvement in results.
Ratios achieved reflect the solidity of the balance sheet and, at the same time, demonstrate the financial autonomy of the company.

Outlook
The noted improvement in results and the start of the summer/spring period would tend to indicate a return to a positive operating result for the financial year as a whole.
Medium-term objectives established in the 2001-2004 three-year plan indicate an anticipated annual 5% growth in sales, based on comparable data, and an operating profit to sales ratio in the region of 4 to 5%.

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