Metal Forming Division*

Market environment and business development

The market environment for the Metal Forming Division for the first three quarters of the business year 2016/17 was thoroughly satisfactory across all the four business segments. The Automotive Components business segment in particular profited from a continuation of the enhanced upwards trend in the small and compact car segment in Europe. This is in addition to the continued strength in the premium segment, parts of which even demonstrated growing demand, namely in Europe and the Far East, while US sales were stable. With the development of a site in Aguascalientes, Mexico, expansion in the Automotive Components business segment in the NAFTA region continues.

The economic environment in the Tubes & Sections business segment during the business year 2016/17 to date has been characterized by comparatively subdued growth. With the exception of Great Britain, the European market recorded only moderate demand, and the conditions in the USA were also characterized by a strong fluctuation in incoming orders. In contrast, sentiment improved slightly in Brazil and China.

During the first three quarters of 2016/17, the Precision Strip business segment was able to further develop its strong competitive position and to successfully hold its ground against competitors from outside Europe, especially in its home markets. Furthermore, it profited from generally solid market conditions in Europe and North America. Although the project landscape remains attractive, the Warehouse & Rack Solutions business segment was characterized by increasing pressure on prices so that high-bay warehousing came in just slightly below the excellent level of the previous year.

Financial key performance indicators

The very good operating performance of the Metal Forming Division is also mirrored in the development of the key indicators. In a year-on-year comparison, revenue has risen by 6.3%, from EUR 1,649.8 million in the first three quarters of 2015/16 to EUR 1,754.0 million in the current business year. Profit contributions from plants going operational in the business year 2016/17, the result of international expansions in the Automotive Components business segment, together with the excellent development of Precision Strip, caused the operating result (EBITDA) to rise by 8.7%, from EUR 205.5 million to EUR 223.3 million, and EBIT by 9.3%, from EUR 134.4 million to EUR 146.9 million. As a result, compared to the values of the previous year, the EBITDA margin improved, from 12.5% to 12.7%, as did the EBIT margin, from 8.1% to 8.4%.

As of the end of the third quarter of 2016/17, the number of employees (FTE) in the Metal Forming Division was 10,650 or 4.3% higher than last year’s figure in the same period (10,212). This rise is primarily due to the new Automotive Components plants which were established within the framework of the internationalization strategy.