C. Scope of consolidation

The consolidated Group (see the “Investments” appendix to the Notes) is defined in accordance with IFRS requirements. In addition to the annual financial statements of voestalpine AG, the Consolidated Financial Statements also include the financial statements of entities controlled by voestalpine AG (and its subsidiaries). Entities controlled by voestalpine AG that are not included in the Consolidated Financial Statements of voestalpine AG are negligible, both individually and collectively.

Subsidiaries are entities controlled by the Group. Control exists when the voestalpine Group has power over the investee, is exposed to fluctuating returns on its investment, and has the ability to use its power over the investee to affect the amount of the investor’s returns. The annual financial statements of subsidiaries are included in the Consolidated Financial Statements as of the point in time at which the Group acquires control over the subsidiary up to the point in time at which the Group ceases to exercise control over it.

Associates are entities over which the voestalpine Group has significant influence because it participates in the entities’ financial and operating policy decisions, but the decision-making processes are not controlled nor jointly managed. Joint ventures are joint arrangements in which partner companies (the voestalpine Group and one or more partners) exercise joint control over the arrangement and possess rights to the entity’s net assets. The annual financial statements of associates and joint ventures are included in the Consolidated Financial Statements using the equity method from the acquisition date until the disposal date. The Group’s associates and joint ventures are listed in the “Investments” appendix to the Notes.

Changes in the scope of consolidation

The scope of consolidation changed as follows during the past business year:

The following fully consolidated entities were merged during the business year 2021/22:

The following at-equity-consolidated entities were deconsolidated during the business year 2021/22:

Discontinued operations

On March 22, 2022, the Supervisory Board approved the decision to sell 80% of the Steel Division’s Texas cash generating unit, which comprises a single facility and produces hot briquetted iron (HBI). The agreement regarding the sale of an equity interest of 80% of the unit was signed on April 14, 2022.

Furthermore, an agreement was made to secure an annual supply of 420,000 tons of the HBI produced at the plant in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA, for voestalpine in the long term. These deliveries will be essential to the ongoing decarbonization of steel production at the voestalpine Group’s plants in both Linz and Donawitz, Austria, as part of its greentec steel project. This partnership reduces the spot market risk arising from the quantities not required by voestalpine. The HBI plant has an annual production capacity of about two million tons.

The criteria for classifying the assets as held for sale were satisfied in the fourth quarter of the business year 2021/22. Management has classified the Texas CGU as discontinued operations because it represents a separate significant line of business. The transaction will likely be closed about three months from the reporting date.

The result thereof is as follows:

A total of EUR 55.4 million in cumulative earnings are allocable to the discontinued operations in other comprehensive income (OCI). They only consist of differences from currency translation.

The main groups of assets and liabilities related to the discontinued operations as of March 31, 2022, are as follows:

The Group measures the discontinued operations at fair value less costs to sell. The fair value less costs to sell of EUR 727.9 million is derived from the expected proceeds (Fair Value Level 3) of the sale of the equity interest of 80%. As of March 31, 2022, a write-up of EUR 256.6 million was recognized in “Land, land rights, and buildings” as well as in “Plant and equipment” in the revaluation gain from the fair value less costs to sell.

In the business year 2020/21, a total of EUR 163.1 million in impairment losses on “Land, land rights, and buildings” as well as on “Plant and equipment” were recognized in other operating expenses for the Steel Division’s aforementioned Texas CGU, which produces hot briquetted iron (HBI). Economic developments owing to the COVID-19 crisis led to yet another adjustment of the short-term earnings forecasts initially issued as of March 31, 2020. The HBI spot market price disintegrated to a much greater degree than anticipated due to the deteriorating scrap/iron ore price ratio. The strong price sensitivity of the HBI spot market prices as well as the expectation that volatilities in the raw materials markets would continue unabated also led to the reversal, in particular, of the medium-term earnings forecasts and the cash flows for the Texas unit. The recoverable amount (value in use) for this unit as of September 30, 2020, was EUR 447.8 million. At the time, an after-tax discount rate of 6.79% was applied; the pre-tax WACC was 7.98%.