Boehringer Ingelheim has announced that sales for the first six months of 2001 rose by 7.7% to EUR 3.1 billion and operating income increased by 17.4 % to EUR 340 million.

Prof. Rolf Krebs, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors, said that he was “ on the whole satisfied ” with the results and expects a further increase in sales in the second half-year.

He said: “We are confident that the Corporation will post double-digit growth at the end of the year” and described the development of operating income as “particularly pleasing” and evidence of the clear progress that has been made in raising the Corporation’s productivity.

Boehringer Ingelheim and is heading towards a record level of investment. In the first half-year investments rose by 22% to EUR 217 million “Disproportionately large investments” are also being made in research and development, Prof. Krebs noted. The level of R+D expenditure was up 15% at EUR 547 compared with the same period last year.

The Boehringer Ingelheim group of companies, headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, is one of the 20 leading pharmaceutical corporations in the world. In 2000, it posted revenues of more than EUR 6 billion.

This news story was brought to you by Boehringer Ingelheim – the largest family-owned pharmaceutical company in the world.