Group Management Report Corporate Governance Environment, Safety, and Corporate Social Responsibility Consolidated Financial Statements 49 projects were suspended or postponed due to our weakening operating business performance in the course of the year. Of the total capital expenditure, € 74.5 million were in- vested in property, plant and equipment (previous year: € 85.5 million) and € 11.0 million in intangible assets (previ- ous year: € 4.9 million). The significant increase in invest- ments in intangible assets is primarily due to the expansion of the ERP infrastructure in the BYK and ECKART divisions. After the extensive expansion of U.S. manufacturing capacities in the BYK division was completed in 2014, the regional focus of our investments shifted back to Group sites in Germany. A little more than half of all our investments were made in German subsidiaries. Another considerable part of the capital was invested in the U.S. In 2015, the BYK division invested a total of € 43.2 mil- lion (previous year: € 45.9 million), primarily to expand production capacities as well as the ERP infrastructure. This capital expenditure was mainly earmarked for BYK’s larg- est site, in Wesel, and its subsidiaries in the U.S. The investment volume in the ECKART division was € 19.3 million (previous year: € 20.1 million), again below the previous year’s figure. The most important individual proj- ect was the expansion of capacities for manufacturing products for functional applications in the construction industry. The ELANTAS division invested less in property, plant and equipment and intangible assets than in the previous year (€ 10.7 million in 2015 compared to € 15.9 million in 2014). Half of the capital expenditure was allocated to the divi- sion’s manufacturing and development sites in Italy. The ACTEGA division invested more in intangible assets and property, plant and equipment (€ 12.0 million in 2015 versus € 8.2 million the year before). A focal point was the expansion of research and development capacities at its Grevenbroich site that began in 2015. Balance Sheet Structure Key figures 2014 2015 Δ % in € million Total assets 2,756.2 2,964.5 8 Shareholders’ equity 1,745.5 1,935.6 11 Net debt¹ (280.1) (114.2) N / A ¹ Comprises cash and cash equivalents, marketable securities, debt, and employee benefit obligations. In the course of the 2015 fiscal year, the ALTANA Group’s total assets climbed from € 2,756.2 million to € 2,964.5 million. The increase of € 208.3 million, or 8 %, is mainly at- tributable to exchange-rate effects. The strengthening of the U.S. Dollar against the Euro, the Group currency, in partic- ular, led to higher balance-sheet values resulting from the translation of the balance-sheet values of our U.S. Group companies. Intangible assets rose by € 9.6 million to € 934.5 million (previous year: € 925.0 million). Amortization on intangible assets was offset by positive exchange-rate effects. Also, there were small additions in the area of software. Property, plant and equipment was also influenced by exchange-rate fluctuations. The increase to € 751.3 million (previous year: € 740.3 million) was driven by currency impacts, while additions were roughly on a par with depreciation and amortization. On the balance-sheet date, non-current assets totaled € 1,814.4 million, 3 % higher than in 2014 (€ 1,753.7 mil- lion). Their share in total assets fell to 61 % in the course of the year. The change in current assets was primarily influenced by the change in the amount of cash and cash equivalents. The latter rose from € 277.1 million to € 422.1 million on December 31, 2015, an increase of € 145.0 million. The devel- opments of inventories and trade accounts receivable virtu-
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