Axel Hamann
CFO & Member of Executive Board
[Technical Difficulty] EUR 311 million, mainly on the back of the preceding restructuring provisions in Q1 that you’re all aware of.
Talking about free cash flow before M&A, that was minus EUR 140 million in the quarter, improving by EUR 140 million year-on-year. That leads to a accumulated 9-month figure of minus EUR 1.9 billion. Overall, important to note that reflects our usual cash flow pattern that will reverse in the running quarter. Miguel has already mentioned that we do confirm our full year guidance for free cash flow before M&A. With regard to our balance sheet, we maintained a solid net cash position at around EUR 2.6 billion. And in order to conclude the financial overview for the group, the key message is quite straightforward. We are executing strongly on performance management and at the same time, preserving balance sheet strength, while staying realistic about the macro and demand environment.
Turning to the next slide. This provides a high-level view of sales and EBIT adjusted development in the third quarter. On sales, overall message is that top line development shows a promising momentum. Improvement was especially supported by Material Services, now tk accelis, with positive effects from prices and volumes, while other segments