Development of the key figures
of the voestalpine Group

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

The business year 2022/23 to date has been shaped by a gradual weakening of economic sentiment in individual customer segments. Irrespective of this countervailing trend, year over year the voestalpine Group boosted revenue for the current business year’s first three quarters by 29.3% to EUR 13,585.2 million (Q1–Q3 2021/22: EUR 10,503.5 million). Given largely moderate growth in delivery volumes, this revenue growth stems from the significant improvement in the Group’s own pricing across all product groups. Individually, every business unit in the Group succeeded in translating the rising cost of raw materials and energy into higher product prices.

Despite the high costs – especially of input materials, raw materials, and energy‐advantageous pricing enabled the voestalpine Group to expand its gross margin in key product groups. Accordingly, EBITDA for the first three quarters of the business year 2022/23 rose by 23.4% to currently EUR 1,879.0 million with a margin of 13.8% (Q1−Q3 2021/22: EUR 1,523.2 million, margin of 14.5%). With the exception of the Metal Forming Division, which followed a stable trajectory year over year, all other divisions improved their operating result. The increase in the Metal Engineering Division’s EBITDA is particularly pronounced thanks to the excellent momentum in the oil and natural gas sector. As regards EBIT, the voestalpine Group posted an increase of 19.4% for the first three business quarters to EUR 1,140.0 million with a margin of 8.4% (Q1−Q3 2021/22: EUR 954.5 million, margin of 9.1%). A total of EUR 173 million in impairment losses in the High Performance Metals Division had a dampening effect on EBIT for the reporting period. Specifically, in the second quarter of the current business year, EUR 54 million in impairment losses were taken on assets of Buderus Edelstahl in Wetzlar, Germany, and EUR 119 million on the goodwill of the HPM Production cash generating unit.

The voestalpine Group boosted its profit before tax for the first three quarters of the business year 2022/23 by 16.9% to EUR 1,052.6 million (Q1–Q3 2021/22: EUR 900.6 million). Based on a tax rate of 26.8% (previous year: 21.7%) and a profit after tax of EUR 93.8 million from discontinued activities resulting from the recognition of the voestalpine Texas Group up to the closing of the transaction at the end of June 2022 (Q1–Q3 2021/22: EUR –7.9 million), consolidated earnings after tax for the reporting period are EUR 864.2 million; which equates to an increase of 23.9% compared with the previous year (Q1–Q3 2021/22: EUR 697.6 million).

Year over year, the Group’s net financial debt as of December 31, 2022, decreased by 8.0% to EUR 2,667.2 million (December 31, 2021: EUR 2,898.8 million). Compared with the net financial debt of EUR 2,291.2 million as of the March 31, 2022, reporting date, however, this represents an increase of 16.4%. The increase in the first three quarters of the business year 2022/23 arises from the substantial growth of net working capital. Several factors led to the significant expansion of inventories. Over and above the steep increases in the cost of raw materials, energy, and other input materials, these include greater back-up inventories in a logistically challenging environment and the first-ever stockpile of natural gas. The significant decline in liabilities also had an adverse effect on working capital in the reporting period. By contrast, the proceeds from the sale of 80% of the voestalpine Group’s stake in the voestalpine Texas Group had a beneficial impact on net financial debt. At EUR 7,596.8 million, the voestalpine Group’s equity has seen substantial growth, as evidenced year over year (+20.6% compared with EUR 6,301.0 million as of December 31, 2021) and relative to the most recent annual reporting date (+7.5% compared with EUR 7,069.3 million as of March 31, 2022). Given the aforementioned developments in the Group’s net financial debt and its equity, as of December 31, 2022, the gearing ratio (net financial debt as a percentage of equity) fell year over year to 35.1% (December 31, 2021: 46.0%). Compared with the value as of the March 31, 2022, reporting date (32.4%), however, there has been a slight increase in the gearing ratio.

As of December 31, 2022, the number of employees (FTE, full-time equivalent) in the voestalpine Group rose year over year by 1.8% to 50,018 (December 31, 2021: 49,157). This increase is due primarily to the rebound in individual customer sectors such as the oil and natural gas sector as well as the aerospace industry. Compared with the March 31, 2022, reporting date (50,225), however, the number of employees has remained largely stable.