Direct business accounted for just under 80 percent of revenue. The remaining 20 percent was generated with cooperation partners. In the first half of the fiscal year the business with cooperation partners increased by 41 percent over the weak equivalent period the previous year. This is due, above all, to the growth in revenue of the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology business group (+27 percent over the prior year). The company generates most of its revenue outside Germany. In the first six months of the year ZEISS was particularly successful in the Asia/Pacific (APAC) region with revenue totaling EUR 419 million. This corresponds to growth of 15 percent* over the previous year (first half of 2012/13: EUR 395 million) when calculated on a comparable basis. In Germany ZEISS reported revenue amounting to EUR 256 million, an increase of five percent (first half of 2012/13: EUR 244 million).
In the first half of fiscal year 2013/14 ZEISS invested EUR 67 million in property, plant and equipment (first half of 2012/13: EUR 107 million). These compared to depreciations totaling EUR 71 million (first half of 2012/13: EUR 65 million). After the end of the first six months net liquidity totaled EUR 128 million (first half of 2012/13: EUR 211 million). "The decrease in net liquidity is attributable to special effects," explained Thomas Spitzenpfeil, CFO of Carl Zeiss AG. "This reflects acquisitions and negative currency effects."
After the heavy investments of the prior year, the free cash flow is now clearly positive again and totals EUR 101 million (first half of 2012/13: EUR −34 million). After the first six months of the fiscal year the company's equity amounted to over one billion euros, equating to an equity ratio of 24 percent.