Metal Forming Division

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

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

The first quarter of 2024/25 continued to be characterized by diverging developments for the Metal Forming Division. While the sections and storage technology business performed well, the automotive sector in Europe was continuously confronted with difficult market conditions.

In the Automotive Components business segment, the new business year 2024/25 did not bring any recovery in Europe. In particular, automotive production in Germany continued to fall short of the planned quantities in the key customer series for the segment. The resulting underutilization of capacity at the German Automotive Components plants led to an overall weak performance by the division in the reporting period. As the German market is not expected to recover in the short or medium term, a comprehensive reorganization was initiated. In contrast, the international Automotive Components locations were able to match the capacity utilization of the previous business year in the first quarter of 2024/25. The Chinese branches in particular delivered an outstanding performance.

The Tubes & Sections business segment performed satisfactorily overall in the reporting period. Business in this division also suffered from the weak European economy, and in particular from reduced activity in the construction sector, especially in Germany. The precision tubes sub-segment for the automotive supply industry (passive safety components) was also subject to considerable price and cost pressure. However, the special sections (custom roll forming), cabin construction, and warehouse technology segments also performed well in the first quarter of 2024/25. The North American subsidiaries were faced with a much improved market situation, both in the e-commerce sector, for off-road vehicles, and in the aerospace sector. The plants in South America and China performed very well by increasing their own market share despite a difficult market environment due to the weak overall economy there.

The Precision Strip business segment has not yet seen any recovery in this reporting period and remains at a low level overall. However, after several quarters of destocking on the customer side, demand appears to have bottomed out. While the saw band steel segment in North America continued to face difficult market conditions, the market in China performed very well in the first quarter of the 2024/25 business year.

The positive trend in the Warehouse & Rack Solutions business segment continued in the new business year. A good project landscape for automated warehouses prevailed in both Europe and North America in the reporting period. The most recent acquisition, Torri S.R.L. in Italy, also performed very well in the first quarter of 2024/25.

DEVELOPMENT OF KEY FIGURES

Revenue amounted to EUR 837.2 million in the first quarter of 2024/25, down 5.3% on the previous year (Q1 2023/24: EUR 884.0 million). While the Warehouse & Rack Solutions business segment was able to significantly increase its sales revenue, the other segments recorded a year-on-year decline in sales.

Warehouse & Rack Solutions also recorded significant gains on the earnings side. While Tubes & Sections was able to keep its earnings almost stable year-on-year, the Automotive Components and Precision Strip business segments recorded significant declines in earnings.

Overall, the division’s EBITDA decreased by 12.1% year-on-year and amounted to EUR 67.0 million in the first quarter of the 2024/25 business year (Q1 2023/24: EUR 76.2 million). The EBITDA margin decreased only minimally in the comparative period and amounted to 8.0% in the current reporting quarter (Q1 2023/24: 8.6%). EBIT amounted to EUR 30.9 million in the first quarter of 2024/25 with an EBIT margin of 3.7% (Q1 2023/24: EUR 40.5 million EBIT with an EBIT margin of 4.6%).

As of June 30, 2024, the Metal Forming Division recorded a year-on-year decrease in the number of employees (FTE, full-time equivalent) of 3.4% to 11,379 (previous year’s reporting date: 11,782).