EQS-News: voestalpine AG: voestalpine with solid result in Q1 2023/24 after record year

EQS-News: voestalpine AG / Key word(s): Quarterly / Interim Statement
voestalpine AG: voestalpine with solid result in Q1 2023/24 after record
year

09.08.2023 / 07:30 CET/CEST
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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voestalpine with solid result in Q1 2023/24 after record year

• Revenue for Q1 2023/24 down 4.3% year over year to EUR 4.4 billion
(previous year: EUR 4.6 billion)
• EBITDA down 42.6% to EUR 505 million (previous year: EUR 879 million)
• EBIT drops 54.4% from EUR 693 million to EUR 316 million
• Profit before tax at EUR 278 million (previous year: EUR 670 million)
and profit after tax at EUR 218 million (previous year: EUR 615
million)
• Equity rises further to EUR 7.9 billion (previous year: EUR 7.7
billion)
• Net financial debt reduced by 15.2%, from EUR 2.3 billion to EUR 1.9
billion
• Gearing ratio improves year over year from 29.8% to 24.5%
• 51,164 employees as of June 30, 2023 (+2.5%)
• A good first quarter in 2023/24 following the company’s best operating
result in its history in the same quarter of the previous year

voestalpine generated a solid result in the first quarter of the 2023/24
business year (April 1 to June 30). The individual industrial sectors
experienced different developments in this respect. For instance, the
momentum of the past business year in the traditional energy sector (oil &
natural gas) continued unchanged. The solar industry also continued to see
strong demand. voestalpine supplies solar projects worldwide; among its
projects, the Group is equipping one of Brazil’s largest solar projects
with sophisticated steel sections. By contrast, there was a noticeable
slowdown in demand in the mechanical engineering, consumer goods, and
construction industry sectors. The automotive industry recorded
satisfactory demand in the first quarter of the 2023/24 business year. The
supply bottlenecks that the automotive industry had faced for over two
years are increasingly dissipating. The rail infrastructure systems
business continued to develop very strongly. The high demand for
voestalpine’s high-quality track grades led to full capacity utilization
for rail production at the Austrian Donawitz site in the first quarter.
The clearly positive trend in the aerospace industry also continued at the
beginning of the 2023/24 business year. Demand in the storage technology
segment is also as strong as ever.

“The first quarter of the current business year was a good one overall.
When comparing the figures year over year, it is important to remember
that we are measuring ourselves against the best quarter in the Group’s
history. Our unique selling proposition is diversification both by
industry as well as by region. This puts us in a strong position for the
future,” says Herbert Eibensteiner, CEO of voestalpine AG.

Development of revenue and earnings

Compared with the first quarter of the previous year, revenue decreased
slightly by 4.3% from EUR 4.6 billion to EUR 4.4 billion. Measured against
the Group’s best operating result in its history in the same quarter of
the previous year, the decline in earnings was significant: EBITDA
decreased by 42.6% to EUR 505 million with a margin of 11.3% (Q1 of the
previous year: EUR 879 million; margin of 18.9%). In the same period, the
operating result (EBIT) decreased by 54.4% to EUR 316 million with a
margin of 7.1% (first quarter of the previous year: EUR 693 million;
margin of 14.9%). Profit before tax also fell by a similar amount,
dropping by 58.5% from EUR 670 million to EUR 278 million. Profit after
tax decreased by 64.5% from EUR 615 million to EUR 218 million. At EUR 7.9
billion, the equity base was further strengthened year over year (+3.2%).
Equity increased by 1.8% compared with the reporting date of March 31,
2023. Net financial debt fell 15.2% to EUR 1.9 billion within one year.
Financial debt increased by 16.5% (EUR 1.7 billion) compared with the
reporting date due to an increase in working capital. The gearing ratio
(net financial debt in relation to equity) improved year over year from
29.8% to 24.5%, but increased slightly compared with the reporting date
(21.4%). The number of employees (FTEs) in the voestalpine Group rose 2.5%
year over year, from 49,900 to 51,164.

Outlook

The first quarter of the business year 2023/24 was very satisfactory for
the voestalpine Group overall, although the overall economic mood in some
segments has already clouded over noticeably.

As expected, order intake from the construction, mechanical engineering,
and consumer goods industry market segments weakened. The central banks’
measures to fight inflation seem to have reached the manufacturing
industry. Assuming no short-term policy reversal by the central banks,
demand from these market segments can be expected to remain weak
throughout the rest of the business year 2023/24. On the other hand, the
automotive segment in voestalpine’s customer portfolio is performing at
least stably overall. This development should by and large continue for
the rest of the business year 2023/24 from today’s perspective. In the
energy sector, a certain softening is expected for the conventional part
(oil & natural gas) in the further course of the business year 2023/24,
but demand should remain at an overall attractive level. For the renewable
energy sector, a continuation of the currently very good performance is
expected for the rest of the business year. The railway systems and
aerospace industries will also continue their very good development.

From the perspective of the voestalpine portfolio, the strongest economic
slowdown is expected in Europe from a regional point of view, while a
rather moderately weaker economic development is anticipated for North
America. South America (Brazil) should experience a largely stable
development, whereas the Asian economic area (China) should grow slightly.

As this development essentially reflects the assessment of the Management
Board at the beginning of the business year 2023/24, it remains unchanged:
Assuming that the global economy will not be hit by massive economic
distortions on account of the central banks’ interest rate polices and
that there will be no further escalation scenarios in the Ukraine war or
additional geopolitical tensions, the Management Board of voestalpine AG
expects the Group to generate EBITDA of between EUR 1.7 billion and EUR
1.9 billion in the business year 2023/24.

KEY FIGURES – voestalpine GROUP

  Q1 BY 2022/23 Q1 BY 2023/24 Change
  04/01/–06/30/2022 04/01/–06/30/2023 in %
Revenue 4,645.4 4,445.7 -4.3
EBITDA 879.1 504.5 -42.6
EBITDA margin in % 18.9% 11.3%  
EBIT 692.7 316.2 -54.4
EBIT margin in % 14.9% 7.1%  
Profit before tax 670.3 278.4 -58.5
Profit after tax from 523.4 220.0 -58.0
continuing operations
Profit after tax from 91.1 -1.8  
discontinued operations
Profit after tax * 614.5 218.2 -64.5
       
EPS – basic earnings per share 2.83 1.04 -63.3
from continuing
operations (euros)
EPS – basic earnings per share 0.51 -0.01  
from discontinued
operations (euros)
EPS – basic earnings per share 3.34 1.03 -69.2
(euros)
       
EPS – diluted earnings per 2.83 1.01 -64.3
share from continuing
operations (euros)
EPS – diluted earnings per 0.51 -0.01  
share from discontinued
operations (euros)
EPS – diluted earnings per 3.34 1.00 -70.1
share (euros)
       
Gearing ratio in % (06/30) 29.8% 24.5%  
In millions of euros

* Before deduction of non-controlling interests.

The Report of the first quarter of 2023/24 of voestalpine AG as of the
June 30, 2023, 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

Peter Fleischer
Head of Investor Relations
voestalpine-Strasse 1
4020 Linz, Austria
T. +43/50304/15-9949
peter.fleischer@voestalpine.com

[2] www.voestalpine.com

 

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09.08.2023 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: 1698791

 
End of News EQS News Service

1698791  09.08.2023 CET/CEST

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