EANS-Adhoc: voestalpine AG
voestalpine: improved earnings after nine months
despite challenging environment
15.02.2012 – 08:41
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ad-hoc disclosure transmitted by euro adhoc with the aim of a Europe-wide distribution. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9-month report 15.02.2012 Although the first months of the business year 2011/12 were characterized by positive demand and satisfactory results, after the summer, an economic cooling-off period set in, the result of widespread macroeconomic uncertainty. While, despite this trend, results for the voestalpine Group´s four processing divisions (Special Steel, Railway Systems, Profilform, and Automotive) were largely stable, also during fall 2011, the situation in the Steel Division was significantly more difficult. From late summer 2011 on, severe consumer reticence led to lower capacity utilization throughout Europe and, in combination with significant declines in raw materials prices, led to sharply declining steel prices. Although this made the third quarter of 2011/12 very difficult, during the first nine months, voestalpine Group was able to exceed the previous year´s results, both for revenue and across all reporting categories. With the turn of the year, the economic trend also reversed in the Steel Division and, with results simultaneously continuing to develop positively stable across the four processing divisions, earnings in the fourth quarter of the business year are expected to exceed those in the third quarter (although, however, it is not possible to achieve the results of the fourth quarter of the previous year). Thus, there is no change to the outlook from November 2011, i.e., for the business year 2011/12, we continue to anticipate a somewhat weaker operating result compared to the previous year (without taking any non-recurring effects from the railway infrastructure segment into consideration). Key figures of voestalpine Group (acc. IFRS; in EURm)* Q1-Q3 2010/11 Q1-Q3 2011/12 Change 01.04.-31.12.2010 01.04.-31.12.2011 in % Revenue 7,936.6 8,877.2 11.9 EBITDA 1,107.0 1,118.0 1.0 EBITDA margin in % 13.9 12.6 EBIT 658.2 676.4 2.8 EBIT margin in % 8.3 7.6 Profit before tax 514.9 533.8 3.7 Profit for the period** 400.3 411.4 2.8 EPS (in EUR) 2.02 2.09 3.5 Gearing ratio in % 65.4 61.3 * According to IFRS all results after Purchase Price Allocation (PPA). ** Before minority interest and hybrid capital interest. Additional information as well as the full report about the third quarter results of voestalpine AG as of the effective date of December 31, 2011 is available on our website www.voestalpine.com under the category "Investors." If you have any questions, please contact our Investor Relations Team +43/50304/15-8735 Further inquiry note: DI Peter Fleischer Head of Investor Relations Tel.: +43/50304/15-9949 Fax: +43/50304/55-5581 mailto:peter.fleischer@voestalpine.com http://www.voestalpine.com end of announcement euro adhoc -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- issuer: voestalpine AG voestalpine-Straße 1 A-4020 Linz phone: +43 50304/15-9949 FAX: +43 50304/55-5581 mail: IR@voestalpine.com WWW: www.voestalpine.com sector: Metal Goods & Engineering ISIN: AT0000937503 indexes: WBI, ATX Prime, ATX stockmarkets: official market: Wien language: English