Fiscal year
Fiscal year
Fiscal year
% Change
(in millions of €)
2019
2018
Actual
Comp.
Orders
15,944
16,287
(2) %
(4) %
Revenue
16,087
15,587
3 %
2 %
therein: software business
4,039
3,560
13%
8%
Adjusted EBITA
2,880
2,898
(1) %
Adjusted EBITA margin
17.9 %
18.6 %
orders for digital industries declined due to lower demand in the short-cycle factory automation and motion control businesses which faced increasingly adverse market conditions during the course of the fiscal year particularly in the automotive and machine building industries .
these declines were only partly offset by clear growth in the process automation business and a moderate increase in the software business which was due to positive currency translation effects and new volume from recent acquisitions particularly including mendix .
the latter two businesses were also the drivers for revenue growth as year-overyear revenue growth for the short-cycle businesses in the first half of fiscal 2019 gave way to declines in the second half .
on a geographic basis orders declined in the regions europe c .
i .
s .
africa middle east and in the americas only partly offset by an increase in the asia australia region .
revenue rose in all three reporting regions .
the software business strengthened its contribution to adjusted ebita with a double-digit increase .
higher expenses related to new cloud-based offerings were partly offset by a € 50 million gain from the sale of an equity investment .
the process automation business showed a moderate increase in adjusted ebita due mainly to higher revenue .
nevertheless adjusted ebita for digital industries overall came in slightly lower year-over-year due to clear declines in the short-cycle businesses .
severance charges were € 92 million in fiscal 2019 up from € 75 million a year earlier .
digital industries ’ order backlog was € 5 billion at the end of the fiscal year of which € 4 billion are expected to be converted into revenue in fiscal 2020 .
digital industries achieved its results in a market environment that lost momentum in the course of fiscal 2019 .
in particular demand for investment goods eroded notably in the second half of the fiscal year .
all regions were impacted by the slowdown and countries with strong focus on investment goods and strong export ties to china suffered notably .
while process industries still benefited from positive development of raw material prices discrete industries faced headwinds from low demand including destocking effects .
the automotive industry was hit by production cuts in europe and weak demand in china .
this among other factors also impacted the machine building industry particularly affecting customers in germany and japan .
production growth in the pharmaceutical and chemicals industries flattened during the course of fiscal 2019 due in part to spillover effects from the automotive industry on related chemicals segments .
the food and beverage industry grew modestly and global electronics and semiconductor production expanded but prices were under pressure .
for fiscal 2020 the market environment for digital industries is expected to weaken further .
manufacturing investments are expected to decrease at least moderately but then begin to stabilize in the second half of fiscal 2020 .
an overall decline in investment sentiment caused by global trade tensions among other factors dampens short-term expectations and fuels increasing cautiousness for investments globally .
a weakening of growth in china could lead to spillover effects in other asian countries and also in europe .

Question: What was the rationale for decline in the orders for digital industries?
Answer: due to lower demand in the short-cycle factory automation and motion control businesses, which faced increasingly adverse market conditions during the course of the fiscal year, particularly in the automotive and machine building industries.