EQS-News: voestalpine AG: voestalpine achieves record highs again in the first half of 2022/23

EQS-News: voestalpine AG / Key word(s): Half Year Results
voestalpine AG: voestalpine achieves record highs again in the first half
of 2022/23

09.11.2022 / 07:30 CET/CEST
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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• At EUR 9.3 billion, revenue for the first half of 2022/23 is 36.6%
higher year over year (H1 2021/22: EUR 6.8 billion)
• EBITDA jumps 42% to EUR 1.4 billion (H1 2021/22: EUR 1 billion)
• EBIT climbs year over year, from EUR 638 million to EUR 898 million 
• Profit before tax is EUR 846 million (H1 2021/22: EUR 599 million),
and profit after tax is EUR 715 million (H1 2021/22: EUR 486 million)
• Equity rises to EUR 7.5 billion (H1 2021/22: EUR 6.1 billion)
• Gearing ratio falls year over year, from 45.1% to 32.7%
• Number of employees stands at 50,374 FTE (+2.7% year over year)
• Marked cooling of the global economy expected for the second half of
the voestalpine Group’s business year 2022/23; Group’s diversification
both geographically and by sector should support earnings

The international steel and technology group benefited in the first half
of 2022/23 (April 1st to September 30th) from very good demand in most
market segments as well as from high prices for its products, generating
record highs year over year in a difficult economic environment. The
momentum particularly in the energy sector was very strong throughout H1
2022/23 due to high energy prices worldwide. Likewise, the pronounced
rebound in the aerospace industry that is being driven by the growing need
for single aisle aircraft due to the rising number of passengers in
regional air traffic also continued during the current business year’s
first two quarters. As usual, the Railway Systems business segment
followed a solid development despite the challenges in logistics. Its
European core markets saw rising demand from the mass transit segment,
while its markets beyond Europe benefited from the continued positive
trend in the heavy-haul transport segment. By contrast, the white goods
and consumer goods industry as well as the construction industry had to
contend with declining demand toward the end of the first half of 2022/23.
Supply chain bottlenecks continued to hamper the automotive industry,
causing it to remain stuck on a moderate level in Europe. The business
environment at the Group’s facilities overseas was better; economic
conditions especially in China continued to be favorable despite
comprehensive lockdowns. The highly satisfactory performance of the
storage technology in previous years continued unabated, and demand for
voestalpine’s products from the solar industry also developed very well
during H1 2022/23.

“Demand for our high-quality products over the past six months was high in
almost all market segments. This is also reflected in our extremely strong
earnings for the business year’s first half, which we achieved despite the
generally negative environment. According to economic experts, the economy
will continue to contract considerably during our business year’s second
half. We are very well prepared for this scenario thanks to our global
positioning and our sectoral diversification,” says Herbert Eibensteiner,
CEO of voestalpine AG.
 
 
Development of revenue and earnings
The voestalpine Group posted record revenue as well as record highs in all
key performance indicators (KPIs) for the first half of its business year
2022/23.  Year over year, the Group boosted revenue by more than one
third, from EUR 6.8 billion to EUR 9.3 billion.  EBITDA soared 42%, from
EUR 1 billion to EUR 1.4 billion. EBIT jumped year over year by 40.7%,
from EUR 638 million to EUR 898 million despite impairment losses taken in
the High Performance Metals Division (as previously reported); in
particular the total of EUR 173 million stem from higher discount rates,
specifically, EUR 54 million in impairment losses at Buderus Edelstahl
(Wetzlar, Germany) and EUR 119 million at the HPM business unit. Profit
before tax for the reporting period rose to EUR 846 million—a
year-over-year increase of 41.2% from EUR 599 million. Profit after tax
soared 47.2% to EUR 715 million (H1 2021/22: EUR 486 million). Equity as
of 09/30/2022 is EUR 7.5 billion (+23.9%). Net financial debt fell 10.2%
to EUR 2.5 billion within one year. The gearing ratio (net financial debt
as a percentage of equity) was reduced year over year, from 45.1% to
32.7%. The number of employees (FTE) in the voestalpine Group rose 2.7%
year over year, from 49,068 to 50,374.

Outlook
Economic sentiment gradually deteriorated over the first half of the
business year 2022/23, and the uncertainties as to the ramifications of
the war in Ukraine particularly for Europe also continued to grow. In
turn, economic forecasts are becoming increasingly pessimistic.

Toward the end of the reporting period, first signs of restraint on the
part of customers in some of the voestalpine Group’s market segments
already reflected the gradual loss of economic confidence.
Hence the Management Board of voestalpine AG expects the global economy to
cool off substantially during the second half of the business year
2022/23.

In its view, the biggest challenges during this period will arise in
Europe, whereas the downturn in North America should still remain modest
over the next few months. As far as the voestalpine Group is concerned,
demand in Brazil is expected to decline but only slightly on the whole
despite the expected weakening of the domestic economy. We expect China to
continue more or less along its current trajectory and deliver restrained
growth in the current business year’s second half. Hence the voestalpine
Group’s global positioning should help at least to support earnings
despite the expected contraction of the economy in the current business
year’s second half.

Sector diversification will further help to stabilize the situation. While
demand in traditionally cyclical industries such as the consumer goods,
white goods, construction, and mechanical engineering industries is
expected to decline over the business year’s next two quarters, we expect
the railway technology segment to follow a stable trajectory and both the
energy and the aerospace sectors to continue their upward trend in the
second half of the business year as well. In the automotive industry, no
improvement in demand for voestalpine products is expected by the end of
the 2022/23 business year.

Given the voestalpine Group’s excellent earnings performance in the first
half of the current business year 2022/23 and given the expectation that
the global economy will cool in the second half of the business year
2022/23, the Management Board of voestalpine AG currently expects EBITDA
of between EUR 2.3 billion and EUR 2.4 billion, as already announced on
October 24, 2022. This figure includes positive non-recurring effects of
about EUR 120 million from a real property sale that is expected to close
during the current business year.

The voestalpine Group has responded to the threat scenario of a lack of
natural gas supplies in Europe by filling its own natural gas storage
facility as well as by diversifying its own natural gas supplies. At
present, voestalpine’s European facilities cover roughly one half of their
natural gas needs from non-Russian sources. By itself, the amount of
natural gas contained in the Group’s own storage facility would be
sufficient for at least three months’ of full production activity. As far
as natural gas supplies are concerned, production at voestalpine’s
European plants is therefore ensured for the remainder of the business
year. However, this analysis does not consider potential curtailments on
customers’ part in case of natural gas supply problems in Europe.

This outlook does not take into account any unexpected economic
distortions from the further course of the war in Ukraine or any energy
supply problems in Europe.

KEY FIGURES – voestalpine GROUP

(pursuant to IFRS) H1 BY 2021/22* H1 BY 2022/23 Change
  04/01/–09/30/2021 04/01/–09/30/2022 in %
Revenue 6,806.4 9,295.2 36.6
EBITDA 1,018.1 1,445.7 42.0
EBITDA margin in % 15.0 % 15.6 %  
EBIT 638.3 898.1 40.7
EBIT margin in % 9.4 % 9.7 %  
Profit before tax 599.3 846.3 41.2
Profit after tax from 473.9 626.9 32.3
continuing operations
Profit after tax from 11.8 88.2 647.5
discontinued operations
Profit after tax ** 485.7 715.1 47.2
Earnings per share 2.65 3.80 43.4
Gearing ratio in % (09/30) 45.1 % 32.7 %  
In millions of euros

*H1 2021/22 retroactively adjusted. For further details see Annual Report
2021/22.
* *Before deduction of non-controlling interests.

The Report of the first half of 2022/23 of voestalpine AG as of the
September 30, 2022, may be accessed on the company’s website at
[1] www.voestalpine.com under the ‘Investors’ tab.
In case of questions, please contact the company’s Investor Relations team
at +43/50304/15-9949.

Please direct any inquiries to:
voestalpine AG
Peter Felsbach
Head of Group Communications I Group Spokesperson
voestalpine-Strasse 1
4020 Linz, Austria
T. +43/50304/15-2090
peter.felsbach@voestalpine.com
[2] www.voestalpine.com

voestalpine AG
Peter Fleischer
Head of Investor Relations
voestalpine-Straße 1
4020 Linz, Austria
T. +43/50304/15-9949
peter.fleischer@voestalpine.com
[3] www.voestalpine.com
 

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09.11.2022 CET/CEST This Corporate News was distributed by EQS Group AG.
www.eqs.com

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Language: English
Company: voestalpine AG
voestalpine-Straße 1
4020 Linz
Austria
Phone: +43 50304/15-9949
Fax: +43 50304/55-5581
E-mail: IR@voestalpine.com
Internet: www.voestalpine.com
ISIN: AT0000937503
WKN: 897200
Listed: Vienna Stock Exchange (Official Market)
EQS News ID: 1482441

 
End of News EQS News Service

1482441  09.11.2022 CET/CEST

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