Group Management Report Corporate Governance Environment, Safety, and Corporate Social Responsibility Consolidated Financial Statements 45 impact on this development. Adjusted for currency influences, sales were 3 % lower than in the previous year. This development was due to the lower sales volumes, especially in the important Chinese market, as well as to the lower sales prices. Asia accounted for half of the division’s sales in 2015. Due to a decrease in demand in this region, sales lagged behind the previous year’s figures. This decline was driven by the Chinese market. In the 2015 fiscal year, operating sales to customers in China decreased in a nearly double- digit percentage range. This negative influence could not be offset by the strong business expansion in India. Nor could ELANTAS reach its 2014 sales level in Europe. Sales were lower than in the previous year in nearly all of the important sales markets on the continent. Business developed posi- tively in the Americas, however. On account of an expansion of activities with products for the electrical and electronics industries, sales increased significantly in the U.S. This boost in sales led to sales growth in the entire Americas region. Sales Performance of ACTEGA Coatings & Sealants With sales of € 376.4 million (previous year: € 332.1 million), the ACTEGA division achieved nominal growth of 13 %, thus showing the most dynamic growth of all of our divisions. On the one hand, this increase was promoted by positive exchange-rate effects. On the other, ACTEGA’s sales rose due to the integration of the companies in Brazil acquired at the end of 2014. Adjusted for these influences, operating sales were slightly above the previous year’s level. A higher sales volume was counteracted by negative effects from a changed product mix and a lower price level. In 2015, the regional sales structure clearly shifted to the Americas. Although operating sales in this region were only on a par with the previous year’s level, due to the positive exchange-rate effects on account of the strong U.S. Dollar and the acquisitions made in Brazil, the share of single market, the development of new wells declined considerably. The sales development in Europe was very stable. A slight decrease in sales in Germany was compensated for by growth in other countries in Europe. Sales Performance of ECKART Effect Pigments Sales in the ECKART division grew by 5 % to € 349.7 million in 2015 (previous year: € 332.2 million). Adjusted for posi- tive exchange-rate effects, sales reached the previous year’s level. The sales volume of effect pigments developed posi- tively in 2015. But the resulting sales increase was eroded by negative effects resulting from the shift of the product mix as well as slightly lower price levels. The sales increase was due in particular to the higher demand for aluminum and zinc pigments, while the amount of copper products sold decreased. ECKART continued to expand its activities with customers in the cosmetics industry and benefitted, among other things, from taking over the sale of products from other divisions in the Group. Since ECKART has supplied this market for years, the division has a good position there, which we leverage Group-wide. The regional demand for the division’s products was not uniform in the reporting period. Sales rose in Europe, with the decrease in Germany, by far our largest single market in the region, offset by growth in other countries. Operating sales in the countries of North and South America were on a par with the previous year. But the decrease in oil and gas exploration activities had a negative impact on demand for ECKART’s functional products. On account of the significant decrease in demand in China, ECKART’s operating sales in Asia did not reach the previous year’s level. Sales Performance of ELANTAS Electrical Insulation In 2015, the ELANTAS division boosted sales by 7 % to € 463.2 million (previous year: € 431.2 million). Positive exchange rate effects, and particularly the stronger U.S. Dollar and Chinese Renminbi against the Euro, had a strong
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