Management Report Results of Operations, Financial Position, Assets and Liabilities Assets and Liabilities 
Long-term liabilities were € 5,762 million as of December 31, 2007, a decrease of € 476 million or 8% compared to the previous year’s figure of € 6,238 million (in constant currency: -2%). Short-term liabilities were € 3,503 million, an increase of 15% versus the previous year’s figure of € 3,058 million (in constant currency 20%).
The Group has no significant accruals. The largest single accrual is to cover the settlement of fraudulent conveyance claims and all other legal matters relating to the National Medical Care transaction in 1996 that resulted from the bankruptcy of W.R. Grace. This accrual amounts to US$ 115 million (€ 78 million). Please see the Notes for details.
Group debt was € 5,699 million, which was 3% lower than the previous year’s figure (2006: € 5,872 million) – in constant currency: € 6,041 million. Their relative weight in the balance sheet decreased to 37.2% (2006: 39.1%). Approximately 53% of the Group’s financial liabilities is in US dollars. Liabilities due in less than one year were € 932 million (€ 596 million), while liabilities with a remaining tenor of one to five years and over five years were € 4,767 million (2006: € 5,276 million).
The net debt to equity ratio, including minority interest (gearing), has fallen to 88.1% (2006: 98.0%). The return on equity after taxes reached 12.0% (2006: 10.4%). The return on total assets after taxes and before minority interest was 5.2% in 2007 (2006: 4.3%).The table below shows other key asset and capital ratios:
| Dec 31, 2007 | Dec 31, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt/EBITDA | 2.8 | 3.1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net debt/EBITDA | 2.6 | 3.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| EBITDA/interest ratio | 5.5 | 4.6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Currency and interest risk management
The nominal value of all foreign currency hedging contracts was € 739 million as of December 31, 2007; these contracts had a market value of € 14 million. The nominal value of interest rate hedging contracts was € 2,880 million; these contracts had a market value of € - 30 million. Please see the Risk Report and the Notes for further details.
