By Cecilia Butini

Voestalpine AG said Wednesday that earnings fell sharply in the first quarter of its fiscal year, citing "massive meltdown in demand" for almost all of its customer segments due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Austrian steelmaker posted an after-tax loss of 70 million euros ($82.6 million) for the quarter that ended June 30, compared with a profit of EUR90 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

Revenue fell to EUR2.4 billion from EUR3.3 billion the previous year, the company said.

Voestalpine also posted a loss before interest and taxes of EUR49 million, down from earnings before interest and taxes of EUR157 million in the same quarter in 2019.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization dropped to EUR158 million from EUR371 million the year prior, the company said.

Voestalpine said the end of the lockdown in the first quarter of its fiscal year led to an incremental recovery in demand, and it backed its previous guidance. The company said it expects to achieve Ebitda in the range of EUR600 million and EUR1 billion in fiscal year 2021. 



  Write to Cecilia Butini at cecilia.butini@wsj.com