Operations and Business Environment - Fresenius Medical Care

02. 1 Our Fiscal year
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Cardiovascular disease is another main reason for the
high mortality rate of people with kidney disease. A 30
to 40 year old dialysis patient has the same cardiovascular
mortality risk as an 80 to 85 year old with healthy kidneys.
Fresenius Medical Care is conducting research to determine
the cause for cardiovascular dysfunction and disease
in dialysis patients. The result so far: the “cardioprotective
dialysis” treatment concept. In cardioprotective dialysis,
patients are treated using procedures and disposables
known to have a favorable influence on the course or
development of cardiovascular disease. Extensive interdisciplinary
cooperation with various fields of medicine, for
example via the cooperation with the RRI, is needed to
tackle these issues and evaluate the results so far.
Our research and development projects are generally
carried out by our own staff and research departments.
Only rarely do we engage external parties to
do research and development work for us.
Economic Environment
General Economic Development
The global economy was generally marked by a positive
development in 2006, although the dynamics weakened
slightly in the second half of the year, particularly
in the U.S. and Japan. Raw materials prices remained
high in the year under review. Buoyed by political tension,
crude oil prices rose in the summer to new record
levels before falling again as the year progressed to
$ 60 a barrel, roughly their level at the beginning of
the year.
The growth rates varied in the industrial countries, as
the economies found themselves in different phases of
the business cycle. While inflation accelerated in the
U.S., it persisted at a low level in Europe. Accordingly,
the year was characterized by an increasingly restrictive
financial policy in the U.S. and a moderate financial
policy in Europe to counter inflationary tendencies at
an early stage. Wage increases in the industrialized
countries were generally moderate.
In their Fall Report, economists from the leading German
research institutes expected a global economic growth
of 3.7 % in 2006, a slightly higher rate than in the previous
year.
United States
Economic growth in the U.S. slowed slightly in the
course of 2006. The main reasons were lower private
spending due to rising consumer prices and high
energy prices, as well as the cooling of the real estate
market and tighter monetary policy. The key interest
rate was raised from 4.25 % to 5.25 % to counter
inflationary tendencies, and therefore acting only
cyclically neutral at best. The gross domestic product
(GDP) climbed by 3.5 %.
Europe
Europe showed robust economic growth in 2006. The
GDP in the euro countries grew by 2.6 %, a substantially
higher rate than in the previous year. Growth was
primarily driven by domestic demand. The high utilization
of production capacity, low interest rates and high
company profits strengthened companies’ willingness
to make investments. In addition, private spending increased
as rising energy prices did not lead to significantly
higher interest rates. Wage increases remained
moderate.
In their Fall Report, the leading German research institutes
expected Germany to achieve strong economic
growth of 2.3 % on account of exports as well as rising
domestic demand. Companies’ investments were
boosted thanks to good utilization of capacities. The
number of unemployed fell substantially by around
600,000 to about four million at the end of 2006.
Great Britain recovered from its weak economic phase
in 2005, and its gross domestic product rose by 2.9 %.
The gross domestic product of the young members of
the European Union was above the average, at 5.6 %.
Russia continued to achieve robust growth, driven by
strong domestic demand and increasing private spending.
Russia’s GDP climbed by 6.5 %.
Fresenius Medical Care 2006