Capital discipline and successful working capital management are major contribution factors to optimize our capital base and achieve our overarching goal of earning a premium on our cost of capital.
Capital expenditures in 2007 amount to € 2.6 billion and are again below the level of depreciation and amortization.
Capital expenditures in 2008 are likely to be comparable.
We aim to finance these planned investments from cash provided by operating activities.
The main focus of our investment commitments is on Europe due to the projects in the Oil & Gas segment.
Planned investments 2008–2012 below the level of depreciation (€ 11.0 billion*)
*
Excluding investments in Nord Stream and Yuzhno Russkoye
Strict working capital management contiues to pay off:
Days of inventory invested (DII) were 37 in the first quarter compared with 39 in the same period of 2007.
Days of sales outstanding, the ratio that gives an indication of how long it takes us to collect our accounts recievables, were 53 days compared with 54 in the first quarter of 2007.
