Voestalpine : COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacts voestalpine results for the past business year 2019/20

'We have succeeded in adapting to this completely new situation very quickly. The voestalpine team has managed the past few weeks magnificently. We are very proud of them and thank all of our employees most heartily for their engagement. As before, irrespective of the economic considerations, our primary concern remains the health of our employees,' says CEO Eibensteiner. 'However, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our operating environment, naturally we have no other choice but to be much more critical than originally planned in our assessments of future market expectations. Therefore, we must further reduce our expectations for the business year 2020/21 and for the value of individual companies, and again implement non-recurring write-offs,' Eibensteiner continues. 'This does not alter our long-term strategic orientation. We will continue to focus on technology-intensive sectors with the most stringent quality standards.'

The current standstill in many sectors of the economy must end soon. 'Apart from our current crisis management, we are already preparing for the announced restart of the automotive industry and other sectors which are more important to our Group. Quickly getting back up to speed will be vital. The Austrian government has now taken the first step towards restarting economic activities and reviving consumption. Now further steps must soon follow in order to get industrial production back up and running as quickly as possible.'