Further Increase in Profitability  Tax expenses rose from € 84.2 million to € 111.7 million. There was a further drop in the average tax rate from 31.9% to  30.1%. A sales increase, gross profit margin expansion and an unchanged cost ratio in comparison with the previous year led  to a sustained improvement in profitability. Operating profit grew by 38.7% from € 263.2 million to € 365 million. Thus, the high operating margin was not only maintained but even grew in comparison with the previous year, rising from 20.7% to 23.9% of sales. All regions contributed to the sustained increase in operating profit. Europe climbed from 25.2% to 28.7% of regional sales, America from 16.6% to 19.8%, Asia/Pacific from 17.7% to 21.9%, and Africa/Middle East to 8.6% after being 3.1% in the previous year.  Interest income was up significantly from € 0.9 million to  € 5.7 million. This corresponds to a 2.3% rate of return of  average net cash funds compared to 0.8% in the previous year.  In 2004, net earnings grew faster than sales for the sixth  consecutive year. With an increase of 43.5%, net profit reached an all-time high of € 257.3 million, compared to € 179.3 million in the previous year. This result again exceeded management’s expectations. The net rate of return of 14.1% was successfully increased to 16.8%. Earnings per share saw a 42.6% jump from the previous year’s level of € 11.26 to € 16.06.  At the Annual Meeting on March 30, 2005, the Board of Management will propose a dividend distribution of € 1.00 per share from the retained earnings of PUMA AG (previous year: € 0.70 per share). This yields a total  dividend distribution of € 16.1 million,  after € 11.2 million in the previous year,  or an increase of 45%. Foreword | Mission |  Management Report  | Share | Marketing | Consolidated Financial Statements - IFRS - | Report of Supervisory Board | Board of Management 21 Profit above Expectations  Dividend 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Operating profit (EBIT) (million €) in % of sales Operating profit 0 0% 100 5% 200 10% 300 15% 400 20% 500 25% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Earnings/ Dividend per share (in €) 0.00 0.00 5.00 0.25 10.00 0.50 15.00 0.75 20.00 1.00 Dividend Earnings