LEONI AG managed to almost maintain its sales in the 1st half of 2003 despite the further deterioration of underlying conditions in the 2nd quarter as compared with the previous year. After adjusting for currency effects, consolidated sales were up by about three percent, but in real terms the figure was, at EUR 551.2 million, just under two percent down on the previous year. Considering a very strong second half of sales in the previous year, the Company forecasts a drop of between two and three percent for 2003 as a whole due primarily to exchange rates. At EUR 22.5 million in the 1st half of 2003, earnings before tax (EBT) matched the previous year’s level exactly. As far as fiscal 2003 net income is concerned, LEONI projects – as already stated in its report on the 1st quarter of 2003 – a year-on-year drop of about 15 percent because of heavy advance spending on large-scale projects of the future. In total, LEONI employs about 19,000 people worldwide.