Development of the key figures
of the voestalpine Group

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

Following the considerable weakening of its key performance indicators (KPIs) in the business year 2020/21 due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the voestalpine Group experienced a dramatic upturn throughout the first three quarters of the business year 2021/22 that significantly surpassed its performance prior to the pandemic’s outbreak. During the reporting period, revenue rose 36.7% year over year to EUR 10,895.7 million (Q 1 – Q 3 2020/21: EUR 7,971.1 million). The positive momentum that resulted as much from growing delivery volumes as it did from sharp price increases was driven in equal measure by all four divisions. Year over year, the growth in individual earnings categories was even more dramatic. EBITDA for the first three quarters of the business year 2021/22 soared 126.4% year over year to EUR 1,545.8 million (Q 1 – Q 3 2020/21: EUR 682.9 million). The voest­alpine Group’s divisions also succeeded in boosting their gross margins by systematically raising contract prices in response to the steep increases in the cost of both raw materials and energy. The Group’s highly satisfactory earnings performance is due, furthermore, to intensified capacity utilization in the production plants as well as to its continued focus on measures aimed at lowering costs. In the first three quarters of the previous business year, EUR 200 million in non-recurring effects that impacted entities of the Steel Division and the Metal Engineering Division led to EBIT of EUR –133.7 million. For the reporting period, by contrast, the voestalpine Group posted EBIT of 947.4 million. Profit before tax for the first three quarters of the business year 2021/22 stands at EUR 892.7 million (Q 1 – Q 3 2020/21: EUR –210.5 million). At EUR 697.6 million, profit after tax is also very satisfactory (Q 1 – Q 3 2020/21: EUR 159.3 million).

At 46.0%, the voestalpine Group succeeded in improving its gearing ratio (net financial debt as a percentage of equity) as of December 31, 2021—both year over year (December 31, 2020: 58.4%) and compared with the March 31, 2021, reporting date (48.5%). Steady equity growth is a major factor in this development. Equity rose from EUR 5,411.3 million as of December 31, 2020 (March 31, 2021, reporting date: EUR 5,649.9 million) to EUR 6,301.0 million as of December 31, 2021, the end of the reporting period. Furthermore, the reduction in net financial debt by 8.2% as of December 31, 2021, to EUR 2,898.8 million (December 31, 2020: EUR 3,158.3 million) also contributed to the year-over-year reduction in the gearing ratio. Relative to the March 31, 2021, reporting date, the gearing ratio rose 5.7% to EUR 2,742.8 million due to the build-up of working capital especially in response to the significant, ongoing increases in the cost of raw materials.

There has been a slight year-over-year increase in the number of the voestalpine Group’s employees; it had been lowered in the previous business year on account of the difficult economic environment. While the Group had 47,871 employees (FTE) as of December 31, 2020, the number rose 2.7% to 49,157 as of December 31, 2021. This represents an increase of 1.0% relative to the figure as of the March 31, 2021, reporting date (48,654).

Net financial debt can be broken down as follows: