As stated at the time of publication of the annual financial statements 2013/14 two months ago, the level of demand from the most important customer industries is suggesting that development for the rest of the year will be stable or—even more probably—positive. Since then, nothing has changed.
In particular, the broad-based upward trend in the European automobile industry continues, driven by both sustained high exports and increasing demand within Europe. International development in the oil and natural gas exploration sectors continues to be stable at a high level, and for the first time in about two years, major projects for pipeline construction are being contracted. The slight upward trend in the European construction industry is continuing, albeit its development differs sharply from region to region. With the exception of China, the trend in the conventional energy generation sector is still weak. Performance in the consumer goods, white goods, and electrical industries, as well as in most segments of the mechanical engineering industry, however, remains stable at a level that is satisfactory overall. The situation in the aviation, railway infrastructure, and agricultural machinery sectors continues to be favorable.
From a regional perspective, the major economies—with the exception of South America—are currently performing at a stable level, albeit unspectacularly. In addition to increasing destabilization in the Middle East, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, whose concrete dimensions are still difficult to assess, represents a risk for the economic situation, especially in Europe, although the direct business interests of the voestalpine Group in these regions are moderate (primarily project development business). Purchases of ore from the Ukraine have thus far not been impacted by the conflict.
For the voestalpine Group, the current development of the economy means practically full capacity utilization in all four divisions. The current order situation is very sound, and it is not expected that anything will change in the second half of the calendar year.
This means that the outlook for the current business year remains unchanged. Assisted by the first positive effects of the EUR 900 million program to optimize earnings over the next three years, from the current vantage point, it can be anticipated that the operating result (EBITDA) and profit from operations (EBIT) of the voestalpine Group will be somewhat higher than the figures for the past business year.