In the first half-year, the Group realised revenue of DKK 4,258 million, or a 9% rise compared to the same period last year. The Group's core business, wholesale of hearing aids, realised unit growth of 9% in the period under review and thus captured significant market shares in a global hearing aid market that is estimated to have grown by 3-4% in units sold.
As expected, the Group's volume growth was especially driven by sales in the mid-priced and low-end segments, and both the country mix and the channel mix developed less favourably compared with the same period last year. The average selling price in the core business thus decreased by 6% on the first half-year of 2011. However, the major part of this reduction actually took place in the last half of 2011.
Despite a declining average selling price, the Group succeeded in increasing its gross profit margin by 0.2 percentage point to 71.7%. This positive development can, among other factors, be attributed to ongoing operational improvements and the realisation of economies of scale in production.
Our operating profit (EBIT) amounted to DKK 864 million in the first half-year, corresponding to 7% growth compared with the same period last year. The reported profit ratio for the period was 20.3%, or a fall of 0.4 percentage point.
Corporate cash flow from operating activities (CFFO) rose by as much as 14% to DKK 790 million in the first half-year, whereas free cash flows rose by no less than 20% to DKK 586 million. The strong cash flow also made it possible to buy back shares worth DKK 400 million in the past half-year.
The Group's expectations of 2012 remain unchanged. It is however now estimated that the global hearing aid market will show zero growth in terms of value in 2012 against a previous expectation of low single-digit market growth. On the other hand, due to the strengthening of the Group's trading currencies, we now expect a more positive exchange rate effect on revenue than previously thought.
We thus still forecast consolidated revenue for 2012 to grow by 5-9%, of which acquisitions are estimated to account for 1-3 percentage points, and we expect operating profits (EBIT) to increase compared to the level realised in 2011.
