EBITDA decreases by 41.3% to EUR 1,004.3 million
The year-to-year comparison also shows a substantial decline in the profit from operations before depreciation (EBITDA) due to the economic crisis. The decline in revenue in the business year 2009/10 of 27.1% resulted in EBITDA falling in comparison to the previous year by 41.3% from EUR 1,710.1 million to EUR 1,004.3 million. At the same time, it is remarkable that, despite the extremely adverse conditions, the Automotive Division was able to show a rise by 2.2% from EUR 72.2 million to EUR 73.8 million. With a minus of “only” 20.7% from EUR 414.7 million to EUR 329.0 million, the Railway Systems Division again demonstrated its comparatively high degree of stability. As was the case relative to revenue, the Profilform Division was affected most severely here as well, with a plunge by 61.2% from EUR 163.8 million to EUR 63.6 million. In the Special Steel Division, EBITDA went down by 57.9% from EUR 363.3 million to EUR 153.1 million, and in the Steel Division, it dropped by 42.4% from EUR 735.5 million to EUR 423.3 million. This means that despite significant declines, in the business year 2009/10, EBITDA continued to be solidly positive in all the divisions. For the Group overall, the EBITDA margin in the business year 2009/10 amounted to 11.7% (after 14.6% in the previous year). The direct comparison of EBITDA in the first and fourth quarters of 2009/10 makes it abundantly clear how sustained the effectiveness of the Group’s comprehensive and consistently implemented crisis management has been. The moderate revenue gain in the same period by 8.0% from EUR 2,093.2 million to EUR 2,261.7 million results in an increase of Group EBITDA by 153.7% from EUR 134.2 million to EUR 340.4 million; this corresponds to a Group EBITDA margin of 15.1% in the fourth quarter of 2009/10.
With an increase of EUR 99.8 million (+293.5%) from EUR 34.0 million in the first quarter to EUR 133.8 million in the fourth quarter, the Steel Division recorded the highest gain in absolute terms. However, the Special Steel, Profilform, and Automotive Divisions also made considerable contributions to the increase. Viewed individually, EBITDA rose in the Special Steel Division by 530.3% from EUR 12.2 million to EUR 76.9 million, in the Profilform Division by 380.7% from EUR 5.7 million to EUR 27.4 million, and in the Automotive Division by 118.1% from EUR 12.7 million to EUR 27.7 million. Despite the already very high comparable EBITDA figure in the first quarter of EUR 81.4 million, the Railway Systems Division was able to again raise its EBITDA in the fourth quarter 2009/10 by 4.9% to EUR 85.4 million. This disproportionate growth of the operating result in the course of the year makes it impressively clear that all the divisions were successful in significantly lowering their breakeven points.
Profit from operations (EBIT) fell by 64.4% to EUR 352.0 million
In comparison to an operating result (EBIT) of EUR 988.7 million in the business year 2008/09, for the same period of 2009/10, the voestalpine Group recorded a result that fell to EUR 352.0 million, a reduction by 64.4%. Considering the economic circumstances, however, this is quite a satisfactory result that corresponds to an EBIT margin of 4.1% (after 8.4% in the previous year).
When reviewing the quarters individually, it becomes clear that after a slight loss of EUR 26.3 million in the first quarter of 2009/10, by the second quarter, the Group’s EBIT had already returned to the profit zone. This trend has accelerated in the third and fourth quarters with EBIT of EUR 132.4 million and EUR 176.8 million, respectively. By the third quarter, the EBIT margin, which had been –1.3% in first quarter and 3.3% in the second, was at 6.3%, and in the final quarter, it rose to 7.8%.
