Metal Forming Division

This report is a translation of the original report in German, which is solely valid.

Market Environment and Business Development

The economic environment of the Metal Forming Division presented a bifurcated picture in the first half of the business year 2021/22. While its Automotive Components business segment was faced with short-notice and volatile order call-ups from the automotive industry, the division’s other business segments did very well.

Worldwide, the automotive industry was confronted with intensifying semiconductor supply chain problems that had already made themselves felt at the start of calendar year 2021. Consequently, automakers repeatedly had to cut or even temporarily suspend production altogether on short notice—with direct ramifications for the upstream value chains. The order call-ups’ high volatility subsequently compelled even Automotive Components to carry out short-term adjustments of its production processes. During the current business year, so far production stoppages have affected the division’s facilities in Europe to a much greater extent than those in North America and China. The energy shortages in China that intensified toward the end of the reporting period led to a governmentally-ordered power shutoff for a few days at one of voestalpine’s plants. But the facility largely managed to mitigate the situation by renting emergency generators.

The performance of the division’s Tubes & Sections business segment in the first half of the business year 2021/22 was highly positive. Strong demand for the tubes and sections of this global unit was driven by the robust trajectory of three of its customer segments: the construction industry, storage technology, and the solar industry. Deliveries for cabins used in agricultural and construction machinery were strong as well. During the reporting period, semiconductor supply chain bottlenecks dampened demand only for safety components used in the automotive industry; since the end of the reporting period, however, they have also affected special sections used in the truck and trailer industry. At the regional level, all key sales regions saw robust demand. This applies to the single European market as well as to Great Britain, which was exposed in the previous year not only to COVID-19 but also to the negative effects of Brexit. The Brazilian facilities of the Metal Forming Division benefited particularly from strong demand in the solar industry. In the United States, the booming storage technology sector offset weak orders from the aerospace industry.

The Precision Strip business segment also delivered highly satisfactory results during the reporting period. Demand from European customers has improved substantially year over year. In the U.S., orders for band saw steel are at record highs, and the situation in China was marked by strong domestic demand.

During the business year 2021/22 to date, the division’s Warehouse & Rack Solutions business segment has continued to benefit from the e-commerce boom, which manifests itself in remarkable demand for customer-specific storage systems. Given that orders were at record highs, the segment accepted only select new projects during the business year’s first half. Warehouse & Rack Solutions has been able to absorb the substantial increases in the cost of both prematerials and freight thanks to its highly satisfactory performance during the reporting period.

Financial Key Performance Indicators

The Metal Forming Division closed the first half of the business year 2021/22 with greatly improved key performance indicators (KPIs) year over year. This outcome also stems from the fact that the effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns substantially impacted the numbers for the first half of the previous business year. With the exception of Automotive Components, which is increasingly affected by volatile order call-ups from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), all of the division’s other business segments delivered markedly dynamic results. Overall, the division’s revenue jumped by 48.0% to EUR 1,617.1 million in the first half of the business year 2021/22, up from EUR 1,092.5 million in the first half of the business year 2020/21.

EBITDA soared during the same period by 138.6% to EUR 191.1 million, margin of 11.8% (previous year: EUR 80.1 million, margin of 7.3%). Compared with marginally positive EBIT of EUR 9.9 million for Q 1 2020/21, EBIT of EUR 118.0 million for the reporting period improved many times over, causing the EBIT margin to rise to 7.3% (previous year: 0.9%).

The quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) comparison of revenue for Q 1 and Q 2 2021/22 underscores the reduction in the business volume of Automotive Components due to automakers’ extended shutdowns during the Northern summer. While the revenue performance of Tubes & Sections and Precision Strip indicates a seasonally weaker trend, Warehouse & Rack Solutions further boosted its revenue in the business year’s second quarter. On the whole, the revenue of the Metal Forming Division weakened by 4.1%, from EUR 825.5 million in Q 1 2021/22 to EUR 791.6 million in Q 2 2021/22. Earnings present a similar picture. The high volatility of order call-ups and the associated lower capacity utilization of the automotive components plants impacted the earnings of the Automotive Components business segment during the summer quarter. Consequently, the QoQ comparison shows that EBITDA fell in Q 2 2021/22 by 17.1% to EUR 86.6 million with a margin of 10.9% (Q 1 2021/22: EUR 104.5 million, margin of 12.7%). EBIT dropped by 26.5%, from EUR 68.0 million to EUR 50.0 million, and the EBIT margin from 8.2% to 6.3%.