Dear Shareholders,
The year 2008 has seen contraction and structural change in the world economy, which is likely to last for some time.
The tightening of credit and the resulting market turbulence, which started in 2007, worsened during 2008 causing an international financial crisis without precedent, which is having serious repercussions on the real economy and especially on levels of consumption. The crisis is a systemic one and has affected most sectors of the economy and business throughout the world, especially in the last quarter of 2008.
