German Share Index (Deutscher Aktienindex), compiled by the German Stock Exchange (Deutsche Börse), reflects the performance of the thirty most important German stocks. Dividend payments are taken into account in addition to price performance.
Debt covenant
A ratio defining the Group´s entire consolidated financial liabilities as a percentage of the EBITDA. This key figure expresses the company´s debt capacity as a ratio of an earnings figure which is approximately equivalent to the cash flow.
Dehydrogenation plant
Plant for catalytic elimination of hydrogen from organic compounds.
Derivative
Financial instrument without an equity interest, but derived from primary securities (e.g. shares, bonds, foreign currency) traded on the spot market. Derivatives (swap-option-trading) are used to hedge interest and currency risks.
Desktop purchasing
Electronic purchasing.
Dimetyhl ether (DME)
Liquid gas readily soluble in water and organic solvents; becoming increasingly important as a nonpolluting substitute for diesel fuel.
DIN/ISO 9001:2000
Standard for installing quality management systems drawn up by the International Organization of Standardization (ISO).
DIN/ISO 14001
Standard for installing environmental management systems, drawn up by the International Organization of Standardization (ISO).
Dispensing system
Dosing system.
Dividend
Portion of the profit distributed to its shareholders by a public limited company. The amount of profit distributed divided by the number of outstanding shares represents the dividend per share.
Dividend yield
The dividend yield is calculated by dividing the amount of the dividend by the current share price. It represents the yield per share on invested share capital.
