Compared to the first quarter of 2020/21, sales rose by 45.6 percent to 3.5 billion euros. For the full year, CEO Herbert Eibensteiner expects an operating result between 1.9 and 2.2 billion euros, he said at a conference call yesterday. That would be 300 million euros more than forecast at the annual press conference in June.
Voestalpine is thus seamlessly following on from the good years before Corona. In comparison: In the most successful year in the company’s history to date, voestalpine achieved an operating profit of 1.95 billion euros.
Almost all market and product segments developed very well in the first quarter, said Eibensteiner. The exception is the aviation industry, in which there is a “subdued development”, said Eibensteiner. In this business area, he expects a stabilization at the end of this or the beginning of next year.
The European automotive industry is still confronted with the supply problems of the semiconductor industry that have existed since the turn of the year, which resulted in short-term production stops at some automotive manufacturers. However, this has led to “no significant decline in demand” for voestalpine’s steel products.
In the USA and China, too, there were hardly any semiconductor-related production outages for the company. “We and our customers assume that chip problems can be expected by the end of this calendar year. We will prepare for them,” said Eibensteiner. For example, the group wants to “switch” quantities intended for the automotive industry to other customers and deliver a little less than expected.
Product prices increased
The good result in the first quarter is also due to the fact that the increased raw material costs have been included in the product prices, in other words: the product prices have risen. Eibensteiner expects that this will also be the case in the near future. “We can keep the margins,” said the CEO. The number of employees has also increased by around two percent or almost 1,000 people compared to the previous year. (hn)
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
