This report is a translation of the original report in German, which is solely valid.
Although the voestalpine Group’s performance is solid overall, the expected economic downturn is clearly noticeable in some areas.
The interest rate-sensitive segments like construction, mechanical engineering and consumer goods industries as well as investments in industrial production facilities in general have weakened significantly and, from today’s perspective, will not show any signs of recovery for the remainder of the business year 2023/24.
The automotive industry segment will remain stable at the current level in the final quarter of 2023/24.
The energy segment will continue its good momentum. The railway systems business is also expected to continue its positive development. The same applies to the aerospace industry, which has seen a dynamic recovery following the massive slump in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
From a regional perspective, Europe is also expected to see the weakest economic trend worldwide for the remainder of the 2023/24 business year. The eurozone has been teetering on the brink of recession in the last two quarters and no positive impetus is expected for the final quarter of the current business year either. Developments in North America are still expected to be relatively robust. In South America, where Brazil is particularly relevant for the voestalpine Group, the economy appears to be cooling off somewhat in the last quarter of the business year. China’s overall economy is growing, although the individual sectors are developing quite differently. Most probably, the problems in the real estate sector will not be resolved in the short term and will subsequently have a negative impact on related sectors such as the construction industry. However, the manufacturing industry, particularly in the high-tech sector, will continue to develop positively.
Against this backdrop and assuming no unexpected economic upheavals, the Management Board of voestalpine AG continues to expect EBITDA in the range of EUR 1.7 billion for the business year 2023/24.