First half year

Sharp drop in profits at voestalpine

State-of-the-art: the voestalpine stainless steel plant in Kapfenberg.

(Bild: voestalpine)

Reduction of vacation and time-off credits, separation from temporary workers - voestalpine has already taken measures in connection with plants in Styria, and in Germany the closure of a plant is imminent. The economic challenges are also reflected in the figures of the steel group based in Linz (Upper Austria): revenue and earnings shrank in the first half of 2024/25.

An Automotive Components plant in Birkenfeld, Germany, will be closed, resulting in the loss of 220 jobs; the workforce at the Dettingen site is expected to shrink from around 650 employees to just under 400 - this was announced by voestalpine in mid-October in connection with restructuring measures in the Metal Forming Division. This step is intended to create future prospects for around 2000 employees, the steel group based in Linz (Upper Austria) announced. A few days earlier, it had become clear that the profits originally announced for the 2024/25 financial year would not be achieved...

Turnover down slightly at eight billion euros
Early on Wednesday morning, voestalpine, which also completed the sale of the German subsidiary Buderus Edelstahl in October, presented its half-year figures, which, as expected, reflect the challenges of the market environment. Turnover amounted to eight billion euros, compared to 8.5 billion euros in the previous year.

The operating result fell to 338 million euros, while earnings after tax shrank by 138 million euros to 183 million euros. The company was able to hold its own in a difficult environment, particularly for the European steel industry.

Our broad positioning in terms of sectors and regions stabilizes the Group result and confirms the robustness of our Group strategy. We are implementing numerous international growth projects in the areas of railroad infrastructure, storage systems and high-tech special tubes and profiles.

Herbert Eibensteiner, voestalpine-Vorstandschef

Flexibility and adaptability
"In this extremely difficult environment for European steel companies, voestalpine is once again demonstrating its flexibility and adaptability," emphasizes CEO Herbert Eibensteiner. He continues: "In those business areas that were confronted with structural changes, we responded immediately with concrete measures, such as the reorganization of our German Automotive Components sites."

Pay increase to be lower at four companies
In Austria, the Group intends to apply the competition and employment protection clause at four companies, which was agreed during the collective bargaining negotiations and means that the wage increase will not be as high. This affects tube production in Krieglach, the foundries in Linz and Traisen as well as Böhler Edelstahl and Böhler Aerospace in Kapfenberg. "We are in good talks with the works council about this," says Eibensteiner. A decision will be made in December.

Thanks to the company's broad positioning, it is easier to balance out the different sectors that are performing well: looking ahead to the first half of 2024/25, there is very good business in railroad infrastructure and aerospace, and demand for voestalpine high-bay warehouse systems made from steel sections is also very high. In contrast, demand is declining in the energy sector, while the construction and mechanical engineering industries remain at a low level. While there are few promising signals from European car manufacturers, business in the automotive industry outside Europe continues to be good.