Voestalpine defies challenging market: slight slump in profits!

Voestalpine defies challenging market: slight slump in profits!

Despite a challenging business environment, the Voestalpine asserted itself in the 2024/25 financial year. According to Meinverzirk , positive developments were recorded, especially in the areas of railway infrastructure, aviation and storage technology. However, the group had to accept a decline in sales to EUR 15.7 billion, compared to 16.7 billion euros in the previous year. The operational result (EBITDA) also fell from 1.7 billion euros to 1.3 billion euros.

A striking decline showed itself at EBIT, which fell by about 20 percent to 455 million euros. The annual surplus after taxes is 179 million euros, which is also a decline. A ray of hope is the stable free cash flow of 309 million euros, while netinance debt remains constant at 1.65 billion euros. The number of employees dropped to around 49,700 people, a decline of 3.7 percent, which signals the already tense situation on the labor market.

market developments and challenges

A look at the various market segments of the company shows that the automotive industry has a stabilized demand, but one suffers from substructure at some German locations. In the construction industry and mechanical engineering, on the other hand, there are few positive impulses, since the order situation still remains weak. The Steel Division was largely stable in the first and second quarter of 2024/25, but had to decline in the third quarter when asked determine.

Steel prices in Europe have continued to decrease in the first nine months of the year, which increases the concerns about the economic situation in the steel sector. CEO Herbert Eibensteiner therefore calls for increased political support for industry, especially with regard to the high energy prices and new US tariffs on steel imports.

strategic orientation and investments

Voestalpine actively follows a “local-for-local” strategy, which includes projects in Brazil, Egypt, India and the USA, among other things. A future-oriented climate project is Greentec Steel for CO₂ reduction in which 1.5 billion euros are to be invested, of which a third is already implemented. From 2027, electric light arch stoves in Donawitz and Linz are to reduce CO₂ emissions by 30 percent, which is an important step towards sustainable production.

In the first half of 2024/25, the company achieved sales revenues of 8.0 billion euros, which corresponds to a decrease of 5.5 percent compared to the same period in the previous year. The operational result fell to 718 million euros, which means a decrease of 20.5 percent, while the net financial debt temporarily grew to 2.0 billion euros, which could be reduced by 1.7 percent in the year, such as voestalpine reported.