expenses decreased to $ 23 million from $ 115 million in 2006 and $ 146 million in 2005 , reflecting the reduced level of operations . operating profits for the real estate division , which principally sells higher-and-better-use properties , were $ 32 million , $ 124 million and $ 198 million in 2007 , 2006 and 2005 , respectively . looking forward to 2008 , operating profits are expected to decline significantly , reflecting the reduced level of forestland holdings . operating earn- ings will primarily reflect the periodic sales of remaining acreage , and can be expected to vary from quarter to quarter depending on the timing of sale transactions . specialty businesses and other the specialty businesses and other segment princi- pally includes the operating results of the arizona chemical business as well as certain smaller busi- nesses . the arizona chemical business was sold in february 2007 . thus , operating results in 2007 reflect only two months of activity . specialty businesses and other in millions 2007 2006 2005 .
what was the specialty business profit margin in 2006
liquidity and capital resources overview a major factor in international paper 2019s liquidity and capital resource planning is its generation of operat- ing cash flow , which is highly sensitive to changes in the pricing and demand for our major products . while changes in key cash operating costs , such as energy , raw material and transportation costs , do have an effect on operating cash generation , we believe that our strong focus on cost controls has improved our cash flow generation over an operat- ing cycle . as part of our continuing focus on improving our return on investment , we have focused our capital spending on improving our key paper and packaging businesses both globally and in north america . financing activities in 2007 continued the focus on the transformation plan objectives of returning value to shareholders through additional repurchases of common stock and strengthening the balance sheet through further reductions of management believes it is important for interna- tional paper to maintain an investment-grade credit rating to facilitate access to capital markets on favorable terms . at december 31 , 2007 , the com- pany held long-term credit ratings of bbb ( stable outlook ) and baa3 ( stable outlook ) by standard & poor 2019s ( s&p ) and moody 2019s investor services ( moody 2019s ) , respectively . cash provided by operations cash provided by continuing operations totaled $ 1.9 billion , compared with $ 1.0 billion for 2006 and $ 1.2 billion for 2005 . the 2006 amount is net of a $ 1.0 bil- lion voluntary cash pension plan contribution made in the fourth quarter of 2006 . the major components of cash provided by continuing operations are earn- ings from continuing operations adjusted for non-cash income and expense items and changes in working capital . earnings from continuing oper- ations , adjusted for non-cash items and excluding the pension contribution in 2006 , increased by $ 123 million in 2007 versus 2006 . this compared with an increase of $ 584 million for 2006 over 2005 . international paper 2019s investments in accounts receiv- able and inventory less accounts payable and accrued liabilities , totaled $ 1.7 billion at december 31 , 2007 . cash used for these working capital components increased by $ 539 million in 2007 , compared with a $ 354 million increase in 2006 and a $ 558 million increase in 2005 . investment activities investment activities in 2007 included the receipt of $ 1.7 billion of additional cash proceeds from divest- itures , and the use of $ 239 million for acquisitions and $ 578 million for an investment in a 50% ( 50 % ) equity interest in ilim holding s.a . in russia . capital spending from continuing operations was $ 1.3 billion in 2007 , or 119% ( 119 % ) of depreciation and amortization , comparable to $ 1.0 billion , or 87% ( 87 % ) of depreciation and amortization in 2006 , and $ 992 mil- lion , or 78% ( 78 % ) of depreciation and amortization in 2005 . the increase in 2007 reflects spending for the con- version of the pensacola paper machine to the pro- duction of linerboard , a fluff pulp project at our riegelwood mill , and a specialty pulp production project at our svetogorsk mill in russia , all of which were part of the company 2019s transformation plan. .