Revenue and operating result of the Steel Division in the first quarter of 2012/13 were down due to the difficult market environment. While revenue fell only slightly by 3.7% from EUR 1,038.3 million to EUR 999.8 million, the operating result (EBIT) dropped almost by half from EUR 101.3 million in the first quarter of 2011/12 to EUR 52.2 million. The level of prices and delivery volumes fell compared to the same quarter of the previous year, which adversely affected the operating result, as did the costs for fuel and energy, which rose due to inflation. As a result, the EBIT margin fell from 9.8% in the first quarter of 2011/12 to 5.2% in the first quarter of 2012/13.
As of June 30, 2012, the Steel Division had 10,459 employees (full-time equivalent), thus increasing its workforce compared to the previous year (10,382) by 0.7%.