Financial key performance indicators

In a solid economic environment, the Metal Forming Division posted revenue growth and slightly improved its earnings performance. All four of the division’s business segments contributed equally to the increase in revenue by 13.1% from EUR 2,426.1 million in the previous year to EUR 2,743.4 million in 2017/18. While the positive economic environment had a particularly strong effect on the development of revenue in the Tubes & Sections, Precision Strip, and Warehouse & Rack Solutions business segments, the expansion of activities at non-European sites further boosted the performance of the Automotive Components business segment. In terms of earnings, it is largely thanks to the division’s two smaller business segments, Precision Strip and Warehouse & Rack Solutions, that the operating income (EBITDA) rose by 2.6% from EUR 317.0 million in the business year 2016/17 to EUR 325.2 million in the past business year. The Tubes & Sections and Automotive Components business segments, on the other hand, posted slightly weaker EBITDA. The performance of the Automotive Components segment was affected in particular by the accelerated start-up of new facilities and plants at sites in North America and China and the resulting start-up costs, whereas Tubes & Sections was confronted with contradictory economic trends in its main markets. Due to the substantial increase in revenue, the EBITDA margin fell by 13.1% to 11.9% year over year. The profit from operations (EBIT) also rose slightly, specifically, by 1.0% from EUR 210.7 million to EUR 212.8 million. Yet the EBIT margin, too, fell as a result of the relatively stronger revenue growth from 8.7% to 7.8%.

A direct quarter-to-quarter comparison between the third and the fourth quarters of 2017/18 shows a significant upward trend in revenue and an even greater increase in profitability. Specifically, the division succeeded in raising its revenue between the second-to-last and the last quarter by 10.3% from EUR 676.2 million to EUR 745.6 million. The two large business segments, Tubes & Sections as well as Automotive Components, presented the largest revenue growth not just in absolute terms but also in percentage terms. All four business segments posted increases in earnings, with Tubes & Sections showing the strongest growth. On the whole, the division’s operating result (EBITDA) climbed by 22.5% from EUR 72.6 million in the third quarter to EUR 88.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2017/18. In turn, this pushed up the EBITDA margin from 10.7% to 11.9%. The increase in the profit from operations (EBIT) was even better: it soared by more than a third from EUR 44.2 million to EUR 59.9 million in the quarter-to-quarter comparison, pushing the EBIT margin from 6.5% in the third quarter to 8.0% in the fourth quarter of 2017/18.

At 12,003, the number of employees (FTE) in the Metal Forming Division as of March 31, 2018, surpassed the previous year’s figure (11,073) by 8.4%. This increase is due primarily to the expansion of the automotive activities at sites outside of Europe.