Business conditions in the first half have been some of the most difficult that we have experienced in recent years,

Recent movements in long-leading economic indicators and in raw material prices offer hope that an end to the spreading global downturn is in sight, ... Despite that, we continue to take actions necessary to emerge from these difficult times as a much stronger company.

These difficult but necessary actions will enable the crop protection business to provide an even stronger base in support of the other parts of our agricultural enterprise.

A company can operate successfully for 200 years only by continually reinventing itself,

We bucked the recent trend of lower second-half results. We see two reasons for that: improved market conditions and improved risk efficiency.

We controlled the tempo in the first half but after we conceded the goal it was difficult.