Weak economic development, particularly in Europe, put pressure on voestalpine’s earnings in the first three quarters of the 2023/24 business year (April 1 to December 31). The international steel and technology group did, however, benefit overall from its global positioning and industry diversification. The energy sector performed well in the first nine months of the current business year.
The Railway Systems business segment experienced good demand for the first three quarters of the business year; as a global market leader in rail infrastructure systems, voestalpine benefited from the high global demand for rails, turnouts, and systems for fully digital monitoring of rail tracks.
Positive trends in the aerospace segment continued in the first three quarters. By contrast, demand remained weak in the consumer goods, construction and mechanical engineering industries. The tool manufacturing segment in particular saw a decline in demand in the second and third quarters of 2023/24. Demand from the automotive industry was stable in the first three quarters with previous supply chain problems largely being eliminated. The storage technology segment continued to show good capacity utilization in the first nine months of the business year.
"The expected economic downturn was clearly noticeable in the first nine months of the current business year", said Herbert Eibensteiner, CEO of voestalpine AG. "However, voestalpine is in a strong position overall due to its broad focus in various market segments and economic regions. Ensuring the competitiveness of the location as an industrial base will nevertheless be crucial. The key points here are expansion of the renewable energy supply and the grids as well as the extension of electricity price compensation until 2030."
Source and Photo: Voestalpine