This report is a translation of the original report in German, which is solely valid.
Proactive risk management—as it has been understood by and regularly practiced in the voestalpine Group for many years—serves to ensure the Group’s existence as a going concern in the long term and to boost its value; it is thus key to the success of the voestalpine Group on the whole. Material risks are systematically recorded, analyzed, assessed, and subjected to permanent monitoring early on as part of the systematic risk management process, which is undertaken Groupwide in uniform fashion several times a year, and as part of internal control systems (ICS), which are also integral elements of the Group’s structural and workflow organization; appropriate measures to minimize risks are taken as necessary.
The global COVID-19 crisis and its ramifications continued to dominate the first half of the business year 2021/22. The crisis teams—which voestalpine established as part of its crisis management and which have been active since the onset of the pandemic on three decision-making levels (Group, divisions, companies)—continue to ensure rapid and coordinated action at all voestalpine Group facilities during these still difficult times, thus contributing to the organization’s stability. The voestalpine Group successfully adapted to the completely new environment in the past one and a half years. Emergency and crisis plans as well as the measures that have been put into practice are evaluated at regular intervals and are adjusted as necessary in the light of new information.
The operating risk environment of the voestalpine Group in the first six months of the current business year as well as compared with previous years has remained largely unchanged. Material fields of risk—such as the availability of raw materials and energy supplies; the loss of critical production facilities; the loss of critical IT systems; the CO2 issue; knowledge management; or financial risks—and the respective precautionary measures thus have remained largely the same. These fields of risk and the associated measures to minimize risk, which were presented and described in detail in the Annual Report 2020/21 of the voestalpine Group (Annual Report 2020/21, “Report on the Company’s Risk Exposure”) thus remain valid for this semi-annual management report.
Based on the insights gained from economic and financial crises in the past and their effects on the voestalpine Group, particularly those gained from the COVID-19 crisis, additional steps primarily of a corporate nature were taken to minimize the Group’s risk exposure. These measures, too, are described in detail in the Annual Report 2020/21, and they have been and are being consistently pursued in the current business year. Any fallout from global trade disputes such as (punitive) tariffs is monitored on a continual basis. The disruptions in the semiconductor supply chain that started at the turn of the year and their potential impact on the voestalpine Group are also subject to continuous monitoring in close coordination with our customers. The COVID-19 pandemic and/or its future course may cause individual jurisdictions to take a variety of statutory steps that may affect production parameters and the respective Group companies’ economic capacity to act.
Specific measures to hedge the risks previously identified within the voestalpine Group have been developed and implemented. These steps are aimed at reducing potential losses and/or minimizing the likelihood of losses occurring. It must be stated that, even as of the present semi-annual management report, voestalpine believes that its operating risks over and above global crises and their ramifications are limited and manageable. As regards the COVID-19 crisis and its associated global ramifications, the voestalpine Group will continue to do everything in its power to deal with the situation—which is very difficult for each and every individual and for the company on the whole—to the best of its ability.