Financial key performance indicators

The Metal Forming Division succeeded in translating higher pre-material costs into higher market sales prices. This resulted in a year-over-year increase in revenue for the business year 2022/23 of 11.1% to EUR 3,860.7 million (2021/22: EUR 3,474.4 million). With the exception of the Warehouse & Rack Solutions business segment, which was confronted with falling revenue after strong growth in the previous business year, the division’s other three business segments posted higher revenue. The revenue increase for Precision Strip was significant, and that for Automotive Components was also substantial. Yet the operating result (EBITDA) for the reporting period did not match the previous business year’s excellent level. At EUR 375.3 million, EBITDA for the business year 2022/23 was 13.3% lower than in 2021/22. The EBITDA margin fell accordingly from 12.5% to 9.7%. The weakening was particularly pronounced in the Automotive Components business segment, which had to contend with challenging conditions in the automotive industry. Starting from a high level, the Tubes & Sections business segment also saw a decline in EBITDA. By contrast, the division’s two smaller business segments—Precision Strip and Warehouse & Rack Solutions—followed a solid trajectory with respect to the operating result. The Metal Forming Division’s profit from operations (EBIT) improved year over year. Note that a total of EUR 64 million in impairment losses at voestalpine Automotive Components in Cartersville, Georgia, USA, had negatively impacted EBIT in the business year 2021/22, whereas EUR 12 million in reversals of impairment losses had had a positive effect in the same period. On the whole, the Metal Forming Division boosted EBIT in the business year 2022/23 by 4.2% to EUR 230.0 million (2021/22: EUR 220.8 million). The EBIT margin fell slightly from 6.4% to 6.0%.

According to the quarter-on-quarter comparison (QoQ), the Metal Forming Division increased its revenue by 3.1%, from EUR 911.3 million in the third quarter of the business year 2022/23 to EUR 939.5 million in the fourth. While Warehouse & Rack Solutions saw a slight weakening in its business volume, the Tubes & Sections and Precision Strip business segments posted slight revenue growth. The increase in the revenue of the Automotive Components business segment in the reporting period’s fourth quarter was more pronounced, although orders had been at a low level during the third quarter for both seasonal and macroeconomic reasons. EBITDA for the Metal Forming Division jumped 21.8% to EUR 96.7 million (margin of 10.3%) in the fourth quarter of the business year 2022/23, up from EUR 79.4 million (margin of 8.7%) in the third. Earnings in all four of the division’s business segments followed a positive trend, with Automotive Components posting the biggest improvement. The earnings performance of Warehouse & Rack Solutions stood out as well: Here, EBITDA rose in the fourth quarter despite a lower business volume. EBIT for the division on the whole soared 35.1% to EUR 59.7 million in the fourth quarter, up from EUR 44.2 million in the third. As a result, the EBIT margin climbed from 4.9% to 6.4%.

At 11,853, the number of employees (FTE) in the Metal Forming Division as of March 31, 2023, was slightly higher (0.7%) than the previous business year’s level of 11,766.