According to Voith, the robust condition of the core business was also confirmed on the earnings side in the past fiscal year: despite a considerable decline in earnings at 'Hydro', the combined operating result of the three core divisions of €267 million was only moderately below the previous year's figure (€304 million), as 'Paper' in particular was able to further increase its very good result from the previous year. The return on sales in the core business fell to 6.4% (7.3%) and ROCE decreased to 15.1% (15.9%). The Voith Group's reported operating result from continuing operations amounted to €211 million - down from €254 million in the previous year - due to the continued high start-up investments for the implementation of the digital agenda. The Group result after taxes amounted to EUR 53 million - an increase of 61% compared to the previous year's figure adjusted for the Kuka effect (EUR 33 million).