EANS-News: voestalpine AG voestalpine posts record revenue for the business
year 2018/19 yet lower earnings due to non-recurring effects
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Financial Figures/Balance Sheet
Linz - Following its very good start into the business year 2018/19, the
macroeconomic environment saw an increased dampening of sentiment over the
remainder of the year. Economic sentiment deteriorated worldwide not least due
to the escalating trade war between the United States and China, but also in
other regions including Europe where, additionally, the endless Brexit
negotiations led to economic uncertainty and the introduction of a new emissions
test (the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure - WLTP) in the fall
of 2018 led to serious distortions in the automotive industry. It was
foreseeable since the last calendar quarter of 2018 at the latest, therefore,
that the economic expansion of the past three years was coming to an end, not
least due to rising raw materials and CO2 prices also.
Aside from the increasing difficulties in the economic environment, the earnings
development of the voestalpine Group was crimped by a number of internal one-
time effects too: in particular, the cost of the complete overhaul of the
Group's largest blast furnace, provisions related to ongoing cartel proceedings
in the Heavy Plate business segment, and sharply higher start-up costs for the
Group's automotive component plant in Cartersville, Georgia, USA.
All of this put substantial pressure on earnings in the business year just ended
despite a new all-time high in revenue.
The Management Board of voestalpine AG is working hard to put the operating
result (EBITDA) for the 2019/20 business year on a stable footing-compared with
the business year 2018/19-in the face of growing economic uncertainties. The
biggest internal challenge in this connection is the work to fix operational
issues at the Group's US plants so that the ambitious volume targets can be met.
What will be key to macroeconomic developments, however, is
* the extent to which trade policies will continue to artificially affect the
global trade flows in the next 12 months;
* the extent to which the performance of the global raw materials sector will
continue to be affected less by supply and demand and more by other criteria
that are difficult to comprehend;
* the extent to which the new emissions tests and the political debates about
new visions for the future of automotive technology will affect consumers'
spending patterns in Europe and beyond; and,
* last but not least, the direction the European economy will take in connection
with the question whether the Brexit will follow an orderly or disorderly
process.
The company cannot influence or decide any of these factors, meaning that any
guidance issued for the business year 2019/20 above and beyond the general
direction expressed above would not have any basis in fact.
KEY FIGURES - voestalpine GROUP
_____________________________________________________________________________
|(pursuant_to_IFRS)________|BY_2017/18___________|BY_2018/19___________|Change|
|__________________________|04/01/2017-03/31/2018|04/01/2018-03/31/2019|in_%__|
|Revenue___________________|12,897.8_____________|13,560.7_____________|+5.1__|
|EBITDA____________________|1,954.1______________|1,564.6______________|-19.9_|
|EBITDA_margin_in_%________|15.2%________________|11.5%________________|______|
|EBIT______________________|1,180.0______________|779.4________________|-33.9_|
|EBIT_margin_in_%__________|9.1%_________________|5.7%_________________|______|
|Profit_before_tax_________|1,042.5______________|645.7________________|-38.1_|
|Profit_after_tax_*________|825.4**______________|458.6________________|-44.4_|
|Earnings_per_share________|4.40_________________|2.31_________________|-47.5_|
|Gearing_ratio_in_%_(03/31)|45.7%________________|46.6%________________|______|
|In_millions_of_euros_________________________________________________________|
* Before deduction of non-controlling interests and interest on hybrid capital.
**BY 2017/18, retroactively adjusted.
The Annual Report 2018/19 of voestalpine AG as of the March 31, 2019, reporting
date may be accessed on the company's website at www.voestalpine.com [http://
www.voestalpine.com/] under the "Investors" tab.
In case of questions, please contact the company's Investor Relations team at
+43/50304/15-9949.
Further inquiry note:
DI Peter Fleischer
Head of Investor Relations
Ohone: +43/50304/15-9949
Fax: +43/50304/55-5581
mailto:peter.fleischer@voestalpine.com
http://www.voestalpine.com
end of announcement euro adhoc
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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
ISIN: AT0000937503
indexes: WBI, ATX
stockmarkets: Wien
language: English