Financial key performance indicators

In the business year 2020/21, the High Performance Metals Division had to contend with a year-over-year decline in revenue of 20.4% to EUR 2,299.8 million (2019/20: EUR 2,891.0 million). But the revenue losses differed according to both region and industry. Regionally speaking, revenue in China developed along a much better trajectory than in Europe and North America, where the volume of business shrank ­substantially owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. on the whole, the sales volume fell by 13% over the course of the reporting period, especially because deliveries of special materials for the oil and natural gas industry and/or the aerospace industry came under a lot of pressure. Deliveries of tool steel for the automotive and consumer goods industries, however, decreased just a bit year over year. Slightly lower prices and/or unfavorable factors in the product mix also affected the division’s revenue performance in the reporting period.

Over and above the slightly unfavorable product mix, the weakening earnings were driven mainly by the decrease in volumes. Consistent cost control measures helped to tamp down the decline in EBITDA. The High Performance Metals Division availed itself of state-sponsored short time work options especially at those facilities that were ­affected by temporary declines in demand. But structural cuts were necessary at those entities that are strongly oriented toward the aerospace industry as well as the oil and natural gas industry. The division’s EBITDA for the business year 2020/21 dropped year over year by 22.3% to EUR 214.4 million with a margin of 9.3% (2019/20: EUR 276.0 million, margin of 9.5%). EBIT dropped during the same period by more than one third to EUR 48.8 million with a margin of 2.1% (2019/20: EUR 76.6 million, margin of 2.6%). The non-recurring effects in the business year 2019/20 must be taking into account in this connection: In that business year, restructuring expenses at Buderus Edelstahl in Wetzlar, Germany, as well as provisions impacted EBITDA to the tune of EUR 54 million. In addition, EUR 26 million in impairment losses at this German special steel plant had a negative impact on EBIT for the business year 2019/20 also.

The quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) comparison of the third and fourth quarters of the business year 2020/21 reflects the upward trends in the division’s major customer segments. The sales volume rose substantially as a result. Furthermore, the slight increase in prices resulting from higher ­alloy costs also caused revenue to rise in the fourth quarter by 16.5% to EUR 666.1 million (third ­quarter: EUR 572.0 million). The increase in deliveries as well as improved capacity utilization at the production units in tandem with an unrelenting focus on costs led to a significant improvement in earnings for the reporting period’s fourth quarter. EBITDA jumped by 50.6% to EUR 82.7 million (margin of 12.4%), up from EUR 54.9 million (margin of 9.6%) in the third quarter. EBIT jumped from EUR 14.7 million (margin of 2.6%) to EUR 40.3 million (margin of 6.1%).

As of March 31, 2021, the High Performance ­Metals Division had 12,586 employees (FTE). This corresponds to a decrease of 6.1% compared with the number (13,404) as of the previous ­business year’s reporting date, which stems from the structural adjustments in personnel at those facilities that are facing longer-term market weaknesses.