SALZGITTER AG
DGAP-News: Salzgitter Aktiengesellschaft / Key word(s): Half Year Results
Salzgitter Aktiengesellschaft: Salzgitter Group continues its upward trajectory, delivering a strong result in the
second quarter
2021-08-11 / 07:30
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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- Earnings before taxes of ? 305.7 million mark best half-year result since 2008
- Course to SALCOS^(R) implementation now detailed. Ambition: first hydrogen-based steel production by the end of 2025
- Strategy review initiated
In the first half of 2021, the Salzgitter Group generated the highest pre-tax result since the exceptional financial
years 2007 and 2008. The drivers of this result consisted of the dynamic uptrend in rolled steel prices over the course
of the first six months, coupled with a sustained recovery in the market that had a particularly positive impact on the
performance of the Strip Steel and Trading business units. The contribution from the participating investment in
Aurubis AG was once again very gratifying.
The Salzgitter Group's external sales rose to ? 4,435.5 million in the first six months of the financial year 2021,
significantly outperforming the year-earlier period that was determined by the COVID-19 pandemic (H1 2020: ? 3,631.0
million). Profit before taxes of ? 305.7 million (H1 2020: ? -127.8 million) includes the contribution of ? 91.0
million from the participating investment in Aurubis AG accounted for pursuant to the equity method (IFRS accounting)
(H1 2020: ? 34.0 million). An after-tax result that stood at ? 230.6 million (H1 2020: ? - 144.7 million) brings
earnings per share to ? 4.20 (H1 2020: ? - 2.70) and return on capital employed to 16.4 % (H1 2020: - 6.3 %). The
equity ratio remained at a very sound 33.3 %. Despite the greater volume of business and higher prices for raw
materials and finished products, the net financial position of ? - 422.5 million settled around the level of the
year-end 2020 reporting date (? - 431.7 million). The value of the CO[2] allowances procured for the fourth period of
the EU greenhouse gas emission trading scheme that commenced on January 1, 2021 meanwhile amount to almost one billion
euros.
Gunnar Groebler, incumbent Chief Executive Officer since July 1, 2021, commented as follows:
"The Salzgitter Group recorded its best half-year result for more than a decade. This pleasing result is not only
evidence of our performance capabilities, but also gives us tailwind for the tasks to be addressed. In the past three
months, I have visited many Group companies in all the business units and engaged in intensive discussion with the
colleagues there. The potential of the Salzgitter Group is impressive. We have initiated an internal process to follow
on after the successful "Salzgitter AG 2021" corporate strategy and to set the course for the coming years. We will
take the time we need for devising the new corporate strategy and expect to present it in the spring of 2022. Key
components of the strategy will include the topics of sustainability and decarbonization in particular. The swift
realization of our SALCOS(R) (SAlzgitter Low CO[2] Steelmaking) concept for low CO[2] steel production remains a
decisive factor. Our ambition is to be able to start hydrogen-based steel production by the end of 2025. This is the
course we will take to gradually reducing CO[2] emissions by 30 % in the period up to 2030, and to lowering our CO[2]
footprint by more than 95 % by 2050 at the latest, thereby eliminating around 1 % of Germany's current emissions. As is
the case with the entire sector, we are on the threshold of a fundamental and far-reaching transformation and I believe
that we are well-equipped to successfully master this sea change. I'm greatly looking forward to tackling the tasks and
challenges that lie ahead together with the entire management team."
External sales by business unit (EUR million):
H1 2021 H1 2020
Strip Steel 1,198.1 902.8
Plate / Section Steel 445.5 363.2
Mannesmann 530.4 494.5
Trading 1,538.1 1,229.2
Technology 639.3 574.6
Industrial Participations / Consolidation 84.1 66.7
Group 4,435.5 3,631.0 Earnings before taxes (EBT) by business unit (EUR million):
H1 2021 H1 2020
Strip Steel 104.5 -69.2
Plate / Section Steel -26.9 -27.0
Mannesmann -15.5 -22.7
Trading 149.3 -15.8
Technology 32.5 -10.6
Industrial Participations / Consolidation 61.8 17.4
Group 305.7 -127.8 Outlook
Provided that the market continues its stable development in the second half of the year despite the latent coronavirus crisis, we affirm our forecast for the financial 2021 that was revised upward in June and anticipate the following for the Salzgitter-Group:
- an increase in sales to more than ? 9 billion,
- a pre-tax profit of between ? 400 million and ? 600 million, and
- a return on capital employed (ROCE) that is tangibly above the previous year's figure.
Disclaimer: Some of the statements made in this report possess the character of forecasts or may be interpreted as such. These are made to the best of the Company's knowledge and judgment, and by their nature are subject to the proviso that no unforeseeable deterioration occurs in the economy or in the specific market situation pertaining to the business units, but rather that the underlying bases of plans and outlooks prove to be accurate as expected with regards to their scope and timing. Notwithstanding prevailing statutory provisions and capital market law in particular, the Company accepts no obligation to continuously update any forward-looking statements that are made solely in connection with circumstances prevailing on the day of their publication.
As in recent years, please note that opportunities and risks from currently unforeseeable trends in selling prices, input material prices and capacity level developments, as well as exchange rate fluctuations, may considerably affect performance in the course of the financial year 2020. The resulting fluctuation in the consolidated pre-tax result may be within a considerable range, either to the positive or to the negative. The dimensions of this volatility are illustrated by the following example: With around 12 million tons p.a. of steel products sold by the Strip Steel, Plate / Section Steel, Mannesmann and Trading business units, an average ? 25 change in the margin per ton is already sufficient to cause a variation in the annual result of more than ? 300 million. Moreover, the accuracy of the company's planning is restricted by the volatile cost of raw materials and shorter contractual durations, on the procurement as well as on the sales side. Contact: Markus Heidler Head of Investor Relations Salzgitter AG Eisenhüttenstraße 99 38239 Salzgitter Phone +49 5341 21-6105 Fax +49 5341 21-2570 E-Mail ir@salzgitter-ag.de -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021-08-11 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Language: English
Company: Salzgitter Aktiengesellschaft
Eisenhüttenstraße 99
38239 Salzgitter
Germany
Phone: +49 5341 21-01
Fax: +49 5341 21-2727
E-mail: info@salzgitter-ag.de
Internet: www.salzgitter-ag.de
ISIN: DE0006202005
WKN: 620200
Indices: SDAX
Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), Hanover; Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin,
Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange
EQS News ID: 1225413
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August 11, 2021 01:30 ET (05:30 GMT)
