Report on the financial key performance indicators
of the voestalpine Group

After the voestalpine Group achieved records in revenue and in key earnings categories in H 1 2022/23, financial key performance indicators weakened in H 1 2023/24. Specifically, sales in H 1 2023/24 decreased by 8.4% year-on-year from EUR 9,295.2 million to EUR 8,512.8 million. The four divisions developed heterogeneously: While the Metal Engineering Division increased sales revenues, the Steel Division, the High Performance Metals Division and the Metal Forming Division recorded declines.

The picture was mixed with regard to the main drivers on the revenue side: Sales volumes increased in the Steel Division. By contrast, the Metal Engineering Division and the High Performance Metals Division recorded declining shipments. The situation was also mixed in terms of prices: Price levels improved for shipments of rails and seamless tubes in the Metal Engineering Division. The same applied to tool steel and special materials in the High Performance Metals Division. By contrast, the Steel Division was confronted with declining prices for flat steel products.

There were also declines in operating profit in the first half of the business year 2023/24. EBITDA decreased by 36.7% from EUR 1,445.7 million (margin 15.6%) to EUR 914.6 million (margin 10.7%). In terms of operating profit, the situation was similar to that of revenues. Supported by the strong performance of the Railway Systems business segment and the Tubulars product segment (seamless tubes), the Metal Engineering Division increased EBITDA. The other three divisions reported a weaker performance for the reporting period.

EBIT decreased by 40.9% from EUR 898.1 million (margin 9.7%) to EUR 531.1 million (margin 6.2%) in the first half of 2023/24. EBIT in H 1 2022/23 was negatively impacted by impairment charges totaling EUR 173 million in the High Performance Metals Division.

Net financial result (financial income reduced by financial expenses) decreased from EUR –51.8 million to EUR –91.5 million. As a result, profit before tax decreased by 48.1% from EUR 846.3 million in H 1 2022/23 to EUR 439.6 million in H 1 2023/24. Based on a tax rate of 23.9% in H 1 2023/24 (previous year: 25.9%), profit after tax from continuing operations decreased by 46.6% from EUR 626.9 million to EUR 334.5 million.

Profit after tax from discontinued operations fell from EUR 88.2 million in the previous year to EUR –2.0 million in the current reporting period. In the previous year, voestalpine Texas Group was reported in this earnings category until the transaction was completed at the end of June 2022.

In total, the voestalpine Group achieved a profit after tax of EUR 332.5 million in the first half of the business year 2023/24. This corresponds to a decrease of 53.5% compared to the previous year’s figure of EUR 715.1 million.

The gearing ratio (net financial debt as a percentage of equity) decreased year-on-year from 32.7% as of September 30, 2022, to 26.6% as of September 30, 2023. Specifically, voestalpine Group was able to reduce net financial debt by 15.6% from EUR 2,464.9 million to EUR 2,080.1 million during this period. The voestalpine Group recorded a slight year-on-year increase in equity, which rose from EUR 7,532.9 million as of September 30, 2022, to EUR 7,824.6 million as of September 30, 2023. This is an increase of 3.9%.

Compared with the reporting date of March 31, 2023, however, the gearing ratio increased from 21.4% to 26.6%. Specifically, net financial debt increased by 25.2% compared with the reporting date of March 31, 2023, from EUR 1,661.0 million to EUR 2,080.1 million. Equity improved by 0.7% from EUR 7,769.4 million to EUR 7,824.6 million as of September 30, 2023, compared to the reporting date of March 31, 2023, despite the dividends paid.

The number of employees (FTE, full-time equivalent) was 51,212 as of September 30, 2023. Compared to September 30, 2022 (50,374 employees), this is an increase of 1.7%. The Metal Engineering Division recorded the largest increase in the number of employees. Compared to the reporting date of March 31, 2023 (51,202), the number of employees in the voestalpine Group remained nearly stable.

Net financial debt can be broken down as follows: