D.9. Property, plant and equipment

The reconciliation of the carrying amounts of property, plant and equipment for the periods presented in the Consolidated Financial Statements as of March 31, 2025, is as follows:

As of March 31, 2025, and March 31, 2024, there were no restrictions on the disposal of property, plant and equipment. Capital commitments for the purchase of property, plant and equipment amounted to EUR 780.1 million as of March 31, 2025 (March 31, 2024: EUR 795.9 million).

Borrowing costs related to qualifying assets in the amount of EUR 13.0 million (2023/24: EUR 12.1 million) were capitalized during the reporting period. The calculation was based on an average borrowing rate of 3.0% (2023/24: 2.9%).

Right-of-use assets as per IFRS 16

The Group leases mainly land, buildings, and manufacturing facilities as well as vehicle fleets including locomotives. Most of the leases contain renewal options and rights to terminate, some of which are also stipulated in conjunction with non-cancelable lease terms.

In some cases, the Group has the option to purchase the assets at the end of the contractually agreed period.

The lease payments typically are either fixed or based on market interest rates or indices (e.g., the consumer price index (CPI)). A few leases provide for variable lease payments (e.g., usage-based leases).

The carrying amount of each class of right-of-use assets pursuant to IFRS 16, which are shown in property, plant and equipment, is as follows:

Lease expenses in the Consolidated Income Statement

The total cash outflows for leases are EUR 163.7 million (2023/24: EUR 98.9 million). In addition to repayments, this also includes cash outflows from interest expenses, short-term leases, small-ticket leases, and variable lease payments.

The expected future variable lease payments are mainly based on a consumption or production component (particularly in the case of PPAs). Where available, historical data is used to estimate these payments; otherwise, forecasts on future developments are applied. Based on the contracts concluded as of March 31, 2025, the future variable lease payments amount to EUR 57.0 million (2023/24: EUR 68.8 million). The remaining terms are mainly 10–25 years.

As of March 31, 2025, there were no material leases that had not yet been made available and thus had not yet been recognized.

The effect of the measurement of residual value guarantees and purchase options on the carrying amount is deemed negligible.

Effect of renewal and termination options

Renewal and termination options can be exercised without the lessor’s approval. The fact that leases contain termination and renewal options gives the operating units of the voestalpine Group, which are responsible for utilizing the assets, a high degree of operational flexibility. The resulting flexibility and thus the range of potential future lease payments that have not yet been recognized in the statement of financial position is high. voestalpine generally assumes that renewal options will be exercised.

As regards the maturity analysis of lease liabilities, see Note D.20. Financial liabilities.

Reconciliation of depreciation, amortization, and impairment of property, plant and equipment, intangible assets AND OTHER NON-CURRENT ASSETS by functional classification

Other operating expenses for the business year 2024/25 include EUR 128.0 million (2023/24: EUR 337.9 million) in impairment losses on property, plant and equipment, other intangible assets, other non-current assets, and goodwill.