Financial key performance indicators

The performance of the Metal Engineering Division in the business year 2018/19 with respect to its key performance indicators was more or less stable. Its revenue rose slightly by 5.3%, from EUR 2,989.7 million to EUR 3,147.1 million. This increase largely stems from higher prices in consequence of higher raw material costs. The tubulars product segment, for its part, succeeded in expanding its sales volume in the important US market in spite of the import tariffs that were imposed.

At EUR 369.0 million, the operating result (EBITDA) in the business year 2018/19 was at the previous year’s level (EUR 372.0 million), but the EBITDA margin of at 11.7% was slightly lower year over year (12.4%) on account of the higher revenue. While the operating performance of the Railway Systems business segment weakened somewhat, the Industrial Systems business segment succeeded in improving its performance. Given that the results for the business year 2017/18 included EUR 15 million in negative one-time effects from impairment losses on property, plant and equipment in the ultra-high-strength fine wire segment (wire technology product segment), the profit from operations (EBIT) improved by 5.8% from EUR 191.0 million to EUR 202.0 million, in turn keeping the EBIT margin steady at 6.4%.

The quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) comparison of the fourth quarter of the business year 2018/19 with the third quarter clearly shows that while revenue grew moderately, earnings improved significantly. As in the year-over-year comparison, the Industrial Systems business segment was responsible for the growth in revenue here too, because it benefited from rising delivery volumes of wire and seamless tube products, whereas the Railway Systems business segment delivered stable performance. As a result, revenue climbed by 7.4% from EUR 771.3 million to EUR 828.4 million. However, thanks to the convincing performance of its turnout systems product segment, the Railway Systems business segment posted the strongest increase in earnings. The Industrial Systems business segment, for its part, succeeded in improving the operating results of all of its product segments. In sum, therefore, the division’s EBITDA rose by more than one third between the third and the fourth quarter of the business year 2018/19, from EUR 78.4 million (margin of 10.2%) to EUR 106.8 million (margin of 12.9%). The EBIT even skyrocketed by 76.0%, from EUR 36.7 million (margin of 4.8%) to EUR 64.6 million (margin of 7.8%).

At 13,501, the number of employees (FTE) in the Metal Engineering Division at the end of the business year 2018/19 was at the same level as in the previous year (13,481).