Development of the key figures
of the voestalpine Group

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

In the first three quarters of the business year 2022/23, voestalpine reported record levels of revenue and earnings. Over the course of the current business year, the voestalpine Group’s financial key figures have weakened, triggered by the deterioration in the global economic climate and in individual customer segments.

Revenue decreased by 8.8% to EUR 12,387.6 million in the first three quarters of the business year 2023/24 (Q 1 – Q 3 2022/23: EUR 13,585.2 million). The only one of the four divisions to see a slight increase in revenue was the Metal Engineering Division. This was due to the good performance in the Railway Systems and Tubulars segments. The other three divisions recorded declines in revenue. Although the Steel Division was able to increase delivery volumes, the price level fell at the same time. The High Performance Metals Division developed in exactly the opposite direction. Here, sales prices rose, but the volume level fell.

EBITDA fell by 31.7% in the first three quarters of 2023/24, from EUR 1,879.0 million (margin of 13.8%) to EUR 1,282.9 million (margin of 10.4%). As with revenue, the Metal Engineering Division also reported an improvement in earnings figures. This is based on the excellent performance of the Railway Systems business segment. The other three divisions reported declining results. Positive effects from government compensation payments, which are used to cushion the high energy costs, are included in the current business year.

EBIT fell by 37.4% from EUR 1,140.0 million (margin of 8.4%) to EUR 713.2 million (margin of 5.8%) in the first three quarters of 2023/24. It should be noted here that there were negative one-off effects of EUR 173 million in the same period of the previous year. These were due to impairment losses in the High Performance Metals Division.

Profit before tax was down 45.4% year-on-year, falling from EUR 1,052.6 million to EUR 574.8 million in the reporting period. The net financial result (finance income reduced by finance costs) fell from EUR –87.4 million to EUR –138.4 million. Profit after tax thus halved from EUR 864.2 million in the previous year to EUR 431.2 million in the first three quarters of the business year 2023/24.

In a year-on-year comparison, the voestalpine Group was able to reduce net financial debt by 24.6% from EUR 2,667.2 million as of December 31, 2022, to EUR 2,011.6 million as of December 31, 2023. However, due to the increase in working capital and increased investments, net financial debt increased by 21.1% compared to the reporting date of March 31, 2023 (EUR 1,661.0 million).

Equity rose from EUR 7,596.8 million as at December 31, 2022 to EUR 7,783.5 million as at December 31, 2023, an increase of 2.5%. With a view to the reporting date of March 31, 2023 (EUR 7,769.4 million), this is a stable development.

The gearing ratio—net financial debt as a percentage of equity—fell year-on-year from 35.1% to 25.8% (as of December 31 in each case). However, the gearing ratio increased slightly compared to the reporting date of March 31, 2023 (21.4%).

The number of employees (FTE) rose by 1.4% year-on-year from 50,018 as of December 31, 2022 to 50,712 as of December 31, 2023. There are more employees in the Steel Division and the Metal Engineering Division. The number of employees in the High Performance Metals Division and the Metal Forming Division decreased. Compared to the reporting date of March 31, 2023 (51,202), the voestalpine Group’s workforce decreased slightly by 1.0%.

Net financial debt can be broken down as follows: