Performance indicators of the Group

Our goal is to increase revenue on an ongoing basis and to achieve a continuous improvement in our EBIT margin at the same time. Furthermore, we aim to achieve a positive free cash flow so that the interac-tion of these various performance indicators allows the dynamic leverage ratio to be reduced and the high balance sheet quality to be retained. However, we do not necessarily strive to improve all parame-ters every year: We take a balanced approach to improving key financial performance indicators and leveraging strong market opportunities, which typically entail elevated capital expenditure on a tempo-rary basis.

Medium-term planning is based on our new business. This indicator comprises the lifetime volume ex-pected over the full term of newly acquired orders; we calculate it on the basis of the contractual frame-work data for all orders and our assumptions regarding sales development. New business should achieve a sufficient volume to offset the annual discontinuation of series production and enable further growth. However, it can fluctuate significantly from year to year. This is because customers make decisions on awarding orders at different times, and major orders are not always awarded every year. New business is one of our key financial performance indicators.