Further Expansion of Europe's Most Profitable Steel and Processing Group in North America

LINZ, Austria, June 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

The steel, technology, and industrial goods group voestalpine, which is one of the top three players of the industry in Europe, presented its results for the business year 2012/13 today in Vienna and London that show significant increases in all reporting categories. The operating result (EBITDA) rose compared to the previous year by 11% to EUR 1,45 billion, and profit from operations (EBIT) gained even more with a 21% boost to EUR 854 million. As a result, the EBITDA margin went up from 10.8% to 12.5%, while the EBIT margin increased from 5.8% to 7.4%. These figures emphasize once again the Group's leading position in the European steel industry with regard to profitability, technology, and quality. With major investments planned for the coming years, the exchange-listed voestalpine Group intends to grow significantly in the USA.

By 2020, the Group is planning to increase its global revenue to EUR 20 billion. With its sustainable expansion strategy, no less than EUR 2.5 billion should be available for its North American activities. Today, the Group already has more than 24 production facilities. Additionally, voestalpine is currently investing EUR 550 million in a new direct reduction plant in Corpus Christi, Texas. When fully operational, the plant, with around 150 employees, will produce 2 million tons of highest quality HBI (hot briquetted iron), a pre-material for steel production. The concept behind this project has caught the attention of the steel industry worldwide.

"We examined a total of 17 sites in eight countries for this project, the largest foreign investment in the Group's history to date. In the end, Texas was the most convincing in terms of all the key criteria, including logistics, energy supply, a well-educated workforce, and the political environment," explained Wolfgang Eder, Chairman of the Management Board of voestalpine AG. "This investment also provides the voestalpine Group an additional growth option in North America in the long run," Eder added. "The fact that, as an industrial enterprise with a vision for the future, we were welcomed with open arms also played a role in deciding in favor of this site," said Eder. "It would have been impossible to build a comparable plant in the European Union, not least because of a lack of competitiveness in terms of operating costs." voestalpine is currently also investing EUR 50 million in a plant for high-strength automotive body parts and components for premium car brands in Cartersville, Georgia.

voestalpine in North America: 2,125 employees and almost EUR 1 billion in revenue

During the last business year, the voestalpine Group was already generating 8% of its EUR 11.5 billion in total revenue in North America. This corresponds to almost EUR 1 billion. In the US alone, 2,000 employees generated sales of EUR 850 million. EUR 124 million were generated in Canada. The largest single company is voestalpine Nortrak, with its roughly 1,000 employees and seven production and distribution sites, North America's market and technology leader in the railway turnout business. The Group is also strongly represented in the automotive, special steel, energy, and aviation sectors. Incidentally, around 10% of voestalpine shares are held by North American investors.

The voestalpine Group  

voestalpine is a steel-based technology and industrial goods group with its headquarters in Linz, Austria. It runs 500 production sites and sales outlets in more than 50 countries on five continents. The Group has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since 1995. With its top-quality flat steel products, voestalpine is one of the leading partners of the automotive and consumer goods industries in Europe and the oil and gas industries worldwide. It is also world market leader in railway turnout technology, special rails, tool steel, and special sections. In its business year 2012/13 voestalpine reported revenues of more than EUR 11.5 billion and an operating result (EBITDA) of EUR 1.45 billion. It employs roughly 46,400 people worldwide.

Please direct your inquiries to

voestalpine AG
Peter Felsbach
Spokesman

voestalpine-Strasse 1
4020 Linz
Phone: +43-50304-15-2397
[email protected]  
http://www.voestalpine.com   

SOURCE voestalpine AG