Your contact for the daily press/business press is: Dr. Stefan Caspari, Tel. +49 (0)7151 26-1402 Fax +49 (0)7151 26-81402 E-mail: ANDREAS STIHL AG & Co. KG Corporate Communications and Public Relations Postfach 17 71 D-71307 Waiblingen

STIHL reports increased sales despite unfavorable weather and sluggish economy Unit sales up worldwide In the first eight months of the current year the STIHL group recorded a turnover of € 1,032 billion, which is 3 percent less than the same period last year. The dip in turnover is currency related. Had the euro/dollar exchange rate remained as it was in 2002, group turnover would have risen by more than 5 percent."In spite of drought-like conditions, a weak business climateand general buyer restraint it was possible to achieve an increase in worldwide unit sales of chainsaws and power tools as well as guide bars and chains", said Dr. Bertram Kandziora, spokesman for the board of management of STIHL AG, at this year's autumn press conference. The weak U.S. dollar, but also the drop in value of the Canadiandollar, British pound, Japanese yenand Polish zloty have resulted in a worldwide turnover that is slightly lower than last year. (from left to right) Wolfgang Zahn (Senior Vice President Product Research and Development), Dr. Stefan Popp (Senior Vice President Marketing and Sales), Dr. Bertram Kandziora (Spokesman of the Management Board and Senior Vice President Manufacturing and Materials),Dr. Peter Dürolf (Senior Vice President Finance and Human Resources) and Dr. Stefan Caspari (Corporate Communications and Public Relations) Notice: You can download the pdf-files with a right-mouse click. Original photo JPG (433 KB) Press release PDF (24 KB) Press release + photo ZIP (419 KB) Profile of STIHL Group and ANDREAS STIHL AG & Co. KG (Parent Company) for Fiscal Year 2003   PDF (14 KB) You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print these documents. Please click here for download. (Please be advised that STIHL is not liable for content of external websites).