Voestalpine : Economic slowdown and non-recurring effects impact voestalpine’s earnings for the third quarter of the business year 2019/20; excluding the non-recurring effects puts the operating results in slightly positive territory

Due to lower delivery volumes, the revenue of the voestalpine Group as of the third quarter of the business year 2019/20 declined slightly by 3.8%, from EUR 9.9 billion the previous year to EUR 9.6 billion. Year-over-year comparisons of the current earnings figures are only marginally relevant to descriptions of the company's operating performance. As previously reported, voestalpine AG recognized impairment losses in its key business segments and, additionally, set up provisions for restructuring expenses and other risks in the third quarter of the current business year following an analysis of the changed global economic environment. About EUR 75 million in provisions adversely affect EBITDA for the third quarter; the impact on EBIT amounts to about EUR 345 million (impairment losses and provisions).**As a result, EBITDA fell year over year by a total of -24.2%, from EUR 1.1 billion to EUR 837 million. Given the difficult economic environment and the aforementioned non-recurring effects, EBIT stands at EUR -82 million, down from EUR 526 million the previous year.

In keeping with EBIT, the Group's profit before tax is EUR -185 million, while the profit after tax is EUR -160 million. Aside from the Group's earnings performance, accounting measures also had a significant impact on the development of the gearing ratio (net financial debt as a percentage of equity). For one, the EUR 500 million hybrid bond issued in 2013, which had previously been recognized in equity, was repaid as of October 31, 2019, and refinanced through borrowings. For another, the net financial debt increased as a result of changes in accounting standards (IFRS 16). In sum, net financial debt rose by 20.3% year over year to EUR 4.6 billion as of December 31, 2019. Equity fell in the same period by 12.1% to EUR 5.7 billion, ultimately causing the gearing ratio to climb from 58.4% the previous year to currently 80%.

The voestalpine Group had 49,838 employees (FTE) as of December 31, 2019; this figure represents a reduction by 3.2%. The number of full-time equivalents will continue to drop in the business year's fourth quarter through ongoing measures such as reductions in the number of leased employees and cuts in both vacation and overtime.

** For details, please see the press release dated December 16, 2019: https://bit.ly/2rIuajp; current figures deviate slightly from those in that publication.