The previous year's figures now reflect the elimination of discontinued operations, specifically Hoechst Roussel Vet, which was divested, and Celanese, which was spun off. Sales by Hoechst Pharma rose by 12 percent on a currency-adjusted basis. Before structural changes due to the divestment of the welding and cutting business and before currency effects, Messer posted a 9 percent increase in sales. The consolidated sales of the Hoechst Group no longer include the business activities of Hoechst Agro, which has been accounted for under the equity method since the beginning of the year. Additional companies no longer consolidated in the Hoechst Group include HiServ and Axiva, which were divested in the first half of 2000, as well as Hoechst South Africa and Infraserv H chst.
Pretax profit consists of operating profit and the non-operating result.
Operating profit fell from 611 million to 383 million. The decrease was mainly the result of one-time expenses incurred by Hoechst Pharma. In addition, the performance of Hoechst Agro is no longer reflected in operating profit. Instead, only the amount attributable to Hoechst is now included in the non-operating result. The non-operating result shows a loss of 51 million, subsequent to a loss of 177 million in the previous year.