The overall very steady development of the Metal Forming Division can be seen in the comparison of revenue figures in the first nine months of 2013/14 with the corresponding period in the previous year. In the current business year, revenue made only minimal gains of 0.8%, going from EUR 1,726.3 million to EUR 1,740.1 million. The fact that earnings nevertheless grew more significantly is primarily the result of optimization measures within the division, particularly in the Tubes and Sections business segment. In a year-to-year comparison, the operating result (EBITDA) improved by 8.5% from EUR 179.1 million to EUR 194.4 million, while profit from operations (EBIT) rose even more by 12.9% from EUR 112.3 million to EUR 126.8 million. These figures resulted in an EBITDA margin of 11.2% in the current business year (previous year: 10.4%) and an EBIT margin of 7.3% (previous year: 6.5%).
A comparison of the third quarter 2013/14 with the immediately preceding quarter shows a positive trend. All of the division’s business segments are showing an equally satisfactory development, and a comparison with the immediately preceding quarter reflects the somewhat improved market environment in the Automotive Body Parts, Precision Strip, and Material Handling business segments. Revenue in the third quarter rose by 1.2% vis-à-vis the second quarter, going from EUR 567.8 million to EUR 574.4 million. As far as earnings are concerned, EBITDA rose from EUR 61.3 million to EUR 64.6 million (a plus of 5.4%), and EBIT went up from EUR 39.0 million to EUR 41.7 million (an increase of 6.9%). Thus, the EBITDA margin in the third quarter of 2013/14 was 11.2% (previous quarter: 10.8%), and the EBIT margin was 7.3% (previous quarter: 6.9%).
As of December 31, 2013, the Metal Forming Division had 10,780 employees (FTE), an increase of 4.8% compared to the same date in the pre-vious business year (10,283 FTE) and 0.7% less than as of the end of the business year 2012/13 (10,853 FTE).