As the President of the Bank Council pointed out just now, our annual disposable profit averages about CHF 1 billion. As this year's negative result shows, it is subject to sharp fluctuations. The fact that we are now distributing more than this amount is because we are gradually releasing the provision for future profit distributions. This provision amounted to CHF 13.4 billion in 2001, but had dropped to CHF 6.9 billion by the close of our 2004 accounts. This development does not come as a complete surprise. A progressive fall in the provision had been predicted, though the speed of the decline – a result of the current low interest rates – had not been expected. Our profit distribution may already have to be reduced in 2007, when the agreement we concluded in 2002 with the Federal Department of Finance on the distribution of profits is revised. Our profit distributions will gradually decrease towards the CHF 1 billion level. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, dear guests, 2004 was a relatively favourable year for the Swiss economy. A few clouds have recently appeared on the horizon. The recovery has unfortunately weakened, so a fall in unemployment is not imminent. We will continue to pursue a monetary policy aimed at maintaining the level of economic activity, though we will keep a careful watch on the general level of prices.
Roughly half of these investments were concentrated in the European continent. Over the years, and given Switzerland's trade surplus, our companies have thus developed an extremely dense international network of production facilities. In addition to the 4 million jobs within the domestic economy, Swiss companies employ a further 1.8 or so million people abroad. Of these, 1 million work in European countries. These figures show that Switzerland has by no means resigned itself to low growth, but has seized the opportunities created by the opening-up of borders and markets. These days, a lot of people worry about competition from low-wage countries and the resulting relocations. However, they overlook the fact that our country is a major beneficiary from the more pronounced international division of labour brought about by globalisation. The relocation of certain production stages is inevitable. It allows our companies to stay competitive in the face of high Swiss labour costs. In some respects, the jobs created abroad secure those at home with more added value. "One out of every two francs is earned abroad" is the phrase that comes to mind when the performance of our exporters is being discussed. This also means, however, that one out of every two francs is still earned in Switzerland. Put another way, the domestic economy plays a crucial role in our country's economic development both on a demand and production level. In 2004, domestic turnover grew more slowly than sales abroad. The growth figure of 1.8%, however, was still higher than in the previous year.