The sales of Aracruz had stagnated, as evidenced by the slightly negative sales growth, operating profit
was declining, and derivatives became an increasing and essential part of its search for profits, see
(Derivative / Net Profit). Despite the efforts made, profits were not forthcoming, as evidenced by the
declining sum of operating profits plus derivatives in relation to gross revenues, a result of rising financial
expenses (see Table 1). Increased derivative transactions caused the company to suffer catastrophic
losses with derivatives totaling R$ 4.7 billion.