operating revenues of more than $25 billion, an all-time high. Our net ear nings grew even faster, marking the 13th consecutive year that we have exceeded our stated objective of achieving 20% growth in earnings, before special charges. Net earnings in fiscal 2000 grew 24% to $730 million, and ear nings per diluted share improved 25% to $2.57, excluding the impact of these charges.  These record earnings, combined with effective asset management, produced record  operating cash flow of $638 million, an incr ease of $260 million from last year. Our  profitability, as measured by operating return on sales (5.0%), return on committed capital (30.3%) and return on shareholders’ equity (19.3%), also reached new highs. Finally,  we increased shareholders’ equity to $4 billion and total capital to $5 billion, pr oviding  substantial balance sheet flexibility for futur e growth. We had many noteworthy achievements that contributed to our success in fiscal 2000 and helped set the stage for continued momentum in 2001. As you will see in the pages that follow, we: Our outstanding financial and operational r esults don’t just happen by chance. They ar e the outcome of the dedication and har d work of our associates, who now number mor e than 42,000 worldwide. It makes me pr oud to hear our customers say that the biggest factor  setting Cardinal apart from its competition is the quality of our people. T o help us manage our rapid growth, we continue to train and educate our associates, r eward them with  appropriate incentives and recruit new talent. Our associates ar e highly motivated and  have maintained an entrepreneurial spirit that truly distinguishes Cardinal from its peers.  4 Cardinal Health, Inc. Annual Report 2000 Operational Accomplishments • Enhanced the operations of virtually every business: Improved our market position, Increased productivity, • Continued to implement our focused acquisition strategy: Successfully integrated Allegiance Corporation, our lar gest-ever merger, Completed the acquisition and integration of Automatic Liquid Packaging, Completed and integrated six additional fill-in acquisitions, Announced the acquisition of Bergen Brunswig’s medical supply distribution  business which was completed in August 2000, • Successfully met the special challenges of Y2K:  Ensured systems readiness,  Managed manufacturing and distribution volumes ef fectively, • Increased cross-selling to customers for incremental annual revenues well over  $500 million: Added 30+ agreements for integrated services with healthcare providers, Implemented integrated services for 20+ pharmaceutical products, • Established a two-pronged Internet strategy: Launched cardinal.com, a comprehensive, web-enabled site for healthcare product  procurement, fulfillment, support and information, Helped form an independent, Internet-based, business-to-business electronic  healthcare exchange, • Invested for our future: Spent more than $300 million on systems and infrastr ucture improvements, Invested over $30 million on r esearch and development, Broke ground on an $80 million Pr oduct Development Center to provide product  developers with access to Cardinal’s drug manufacturing technologies and integrated services.