Preliminary result for the fourth quarter
The fourth quarter did not close as strong as the previous year. The greatest deviation, compared to the fourth quarter of last year, relates to the significantly lower earnings in business area Specialty Pharma due to increased competition on the British market for Melatonin. Business areas Assistive Tech and Medtech had stable sales but lower margins than in the comparison quarter of last year, and thereby, do not compensate for the lower earnings in Specialty Pharma. Margin is impacted e.g. by product mix and inventory write-downs, affecting all business areas in the quarter. As a