The cumulated figures for the first six months of 2008, however, show a 3% increase in billings if compared to H1/07. Even compared to previous years, the first half of 2008 closed positively.
Order intake increased compared to May and reached a peak again. Figures here are as follows: 15% increase compared to the previous month, 16% increase compared to June 2007 and 17% above the long-term average. One reason for this is that June had two working days more than the previous May.
There were wide variations within the client industries - as a whole, a rise in short notice deliveries can be observe. This was also affected by the restrictions of China imposed during the Olympic Games, which were enforced rigorously.
For June, the book-to-bill ratio was 1.07 and with that back on growth. For H1/08, this figure also shows growth with 1.05.
The number of employees decreased slightly - due to seasonal reasons, such as the summer holidays. Many short-contract workers were employed during that time and those contracts expire in September again.
