BMW 2001 Annual Report Download - page 30

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Even before the terrorist attacks on 11 September,
the worlds stock markets were characterised by un-
certainty about the prospects of the US economy
and by the expectation of deteriorating earnings of
many companies, particularly those in the techno-
logical sector.
At 6,795 points, the DAX reached its high for
the year on 31 January and after that fell continu-
ously. A short recovery period in March was followed
by a sideways movement within a relatively narrow
stock price corridor. Reflecting increasing uncertain-
ty about the economic situation, the DAX index then
dropped by approximately 25% in July and August.
The terrorist attacks on 11 September led to further
losses, even greater than on the American stock ex-
changes, forcing the DAX down to 3,787 points.
By the year-end, the index was back at 5,160
points, but still 19.8% lower than the level at the end
of 2000.
Automotive stocks, represented by the CDAX
Automobile stock index, benefited in the first half of
the year from portfolio realignments. These stocks
thus largely escaped the general downward trend
until the middle of August, before suffering a drop of
almost 15% in the first week of September.
Following the markets new evaluation of the
prospects of the automobile industry, the CDAX
Automobile stock index went down more sharply
than the market as a whole, falling by almost 30%
after 11 September to a low of 237.50 points, before
recovering to 379.57 at the year-end. Compared to
the level at the end of the previous year, the index
gained 40 points or 11.8%.
BMW common stock, whose market price had
increased in the first quarter below the average of
the CDAX Automobile stock index as a whole, then
performed marginally better than the sector index in
the second quarter and was far better than the DAX.
After reaching a new high of euro 41.65 on
18 May, the price fell as a result of profit-taking,
thereafter moving largely sideways until the middle
of August. Up to 10 September, despite an interim
drop in value by almost 10 %, the stock nevertheless
performed better than the DAX as a whole.
As a result of the general fall of stock markets
following 11 September, BMW common stock
dropped considerably in value under heavy trading,
reaching a new annual low of euro 24.01 on 20 Sep-
tember.
BMW stock performs above-average in a year marked by turbulent develop-
ments on the financial markets. Only four DAX-30 stocks posted a rise in the
stock price over the year  the BMW stock was one of them.
Development of BMW stock compared to stock exchange indices
(Index: January 1992 = 100)
550
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01
BMW common stock
BMW preferred stock
DAX
CDAX Automobile