Financial key performance indicators

In the business year 2019/20, the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the Metal Engineering Division were weaker year over year due to the downtrend in both the automotive and the energy industry as well as non-recurring effects. The division’s revenue fell by 6.5%, from EUR 3,147.1 million in the previous year to EUR 2,941.7 million in the reporting period. The analysis by business segment presents a bifurcated picture: While Railway Systems even succeeded in boosting its revenue from foreign sales year over year, the scope of Industrial Systems’ deliveries and services declined. In the business year 2019/20, the wire technology and tubulars product segments delivered substantially lower quantities of wire and tubular goods, respectively. As a result, the operating performance of both wire technology and tubulars contributed substantially to the year-over-year drop in EBITDA by 18.4%, from EUR 369.0 million (margin of 11.7%) in the previous year to EUR 301.1 million (margin of 10.2%) in the reporting period. Note, however, that the negative non-recurring effects which reduced EBITDA by EUR 5 million in the business year 2019/20 in play as well. In addition, the tubulars and welding consumables segments both recognized impairment losses that additionally affected EBIT to the tune of EUR 83 million. By contrast, the negative effects from the steps taken in the reporting period to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic stayed within tight limits. On the whole, EBIT plunged by 83.7%, from EUR 202.0 million in the business year 2018/19 to EUR 32.9 million in the business year 2019/20, causing the EBIT margin in turn to drop from 6.4% to 1.1%.

However, the quarter-on-quarter comparison (QoQ) between the business year’s third and fourth quarters presents a differentiated picture. Revenue decreased but moderately by 1.6%, from EUR 707.6 million to EUR 696.6 million. A slight decline in Railway Systems was contrasted by the stable performance of Industrial Systems. While the wire technology product segment managed to boost delivery volumes in the fourth quarter, sales prices in this segment were slightly lower. In the tubulars product segment, the extremely unfavorable market conditions led to further declines in delivery volumes. By contrast, the welding consumables product segment posted a slight increase in revenue for the final quarter of the business year 2019/20.

At EUR 72.3 million, the Metal Engineering Division’s EBITDA for the fourth quarter improved by 28.0% compared to the immediately preceding quarter (EUR 56.5 million). Note, however, that EUR 5 million in negative non-recurring effects impacted the third quarter. The EBITDA margin rose QoQ from 8.0% to 10.4%. Starting from the low level in the third quarter, there was an uptrend in the performance of the Industrial Systems business segment in the subsequent quarter. At EUR –40.0 million (margin of –5.7%), however, EBIT for the business year’s final quarter was substantially negative compared to the slightly negative level of EUR –3.4 million (margin of –0.5%) in the preceding quarter. The collapse in EBIT was chiefly due to fourth-quarter impairment losses of EUR 63 million in the tubulars and welding consumables product segments. The third-quarter impairment losses in the tubulars segment were EUR 20 million.

As of the end of the business year 2019/20, the number of employees (FTE) in the Metal Forming Division was 13,310, or 1.4% below the past year’s figure (13,501). This reduction in personnel reflects the division’s reaction to the considerable decline in demand in both the tubulars and the wire technology product segments.