- Improvement in demand on European markets supports the upward economic trend in the European Union
- Continuing strong economic development in North America
- After somewhat weaker start to the year, China returns most recently to stable development at a solid level
- Structural weaknesses and restrictive financial policy dampen growth in Brazil
- In a year-to-year comparison, revenue slightly down due to lower pre-material costs and closure of standard rail production in Duisburg
- At EUR 363.7 million, EBITDA remains at previous year’s level (previous year: EUR 363.5 million); due to lower revenue, EBITDA margin improves from 12.6% to 12.9%
- At EUR 218.4 million, EBIT slightly below previous year’s figure of EUR 221.6 million, with a stable margin of 7.7%
- Profit before tax (EUR 192.9 million) and profit for the period (EUR 154.4 million) rise considerably in a year-to-year comparison (first quarter 2013/14: EUR 175.0 million and EUR 137.6 million) due to an improved financial result and a lower tax rate
- At 44.7%, gearing ratio (net financial debt in percent of equity) decreases compared to March 31, 2014 (46.0%, retroactively adjusted) as a result of continuing build-up of equity
- Start of construction phase of the HBI project in Texas after successful completion of all approval processes