Having already returned to a level of earnings in the first quarter of the current business year that was last seen before the onset of the 2008 financial and economic crisis, the technology and capital goods Group succeeded in further exploiting the continued positive economic momentum. Compared with the same period the previous year, it closed the first half of the business year 2017/18 (April 1 to September 30, 2017) with a significant increase in both revenue and earnings.

Technology and capital goods group voestalpine continues to expand around the world in the automotive sector. The Group is not only enhancing its presence in the NAFTA region recently, but it is also investing again: some EUR 16 million are intended for further expansion of what is already the world’s largest production site for laser-welded blanks in Linz. Rapidly growing demand for innovative lightweight construction solutions for the vehicle sector is generating another 50 new jobs at the site in Upper Austria, and will contribute to increasing annual revenue in this product segment to around EUR 200 million.

The activities of the voestalpine Group at its nine Styrian sites have a significant economic impact across Austria: according to a study by the Industriewissenschaftliches Institut (IWI) for the business year 2016/17 which was presented today in Graz, every euro of value produced by voestalpine in Styria generates around two further euros for Austria. This development is driven not least by investments of over EUR 1 billion scheduled over the coming four years, including the world’s most advanced special steel plant in Kapfenberg.

After more than two years of planning, today the final location decision was taken during the Supervisory Board meeting of voestalpine AG: the most advanced special steel plant in the world, representing an investment of EUR 330 to 350 million and designed to supply the most demanding customer segments, will be erected in Kapfenberg, Austria, where it will replace the existing plant from 2021. Securing around 3,000 jobs in Styria, this major investment by the High Performance Metals Division of the voestalpine Group marks a technological milestone in the manufacture of pioneering high-performance steels for the international aerospace, automotive, and oil & gas industries.

voestalpine continues to strengthen its leading international position in the quality wire sector with the official opening of its new high-tech wire rod mill at the site of the Metal Engineering Division in Leoben/Donawitz in Austria. Each year the fully automated plant—total investment volume EUR 140 million—will produce 550,000 tons of premium rod wire for the most sophisticated applications in the automotive, energy, construction, and mechanical engineering industries. The investment has created over EUR 60 million in value for Austria as a business location during the construction phase alone*.

voestalpine AG has successfully placed a new EUR 500 million corporate bond issue in the capital market to provide funding for general corporate financing, as well as to refinance a senior bond which expires in February 2018. The order book, totaling over EUR 1.25 billion and including around 220 different investors, was of excellent quality. The coupon rate for the 7-year bond is 1.375%.

voestalpine AG hereby informs that in the course of the current investigations of the German federal cartel office against steel producers, an inspection in the office of voestalpine in Linz is conducted today (12th September 2017) for the German federal cartel office. The reason for the inspection is the suspicion of anti-competitive practices in the market for heavy plates. Austrian authorities are cooperating in accordance within the European legal framework.

With wind speeds far in excess of 200 km/h and extensive flooding, Hurricane Harvey, which blew in at the end of August, was one of the greatest natural disasters in the history of the US state of Texas. Thanks to high construction and safety standards, the voestalpine plant in Corpus Christi, South Texas, withstood several days of the raging hurricane without having suffered significant damage. The direct reduction plant, the largest and most modern plant of its type in the world, was able to return to full operation yesterday, September 7. All 220 voestalpine Texas LLC employees are also safely back at their workplace. Last week the voestalpine Group promised emergency funding of USD 350,000 for employees and residents in the region who were affected by the hurricane.

The US state of Texas is currently experiencing one of the greatest natural disasters in its history. Thanks to high safety standards, the voestalpine direct reduction plant which was erected there in last years survived Harvey—the hurricane of the century which has been wreaking damage since last week—without substantial damage. In the entire South Texas region where Corpus Christi, the site of voestalpine Texas LLC, is located, there was heavy damage that extended to the complete destruction of entire residential areas. For this reason, the voestalpine Group is offering immediate support for affected employees and local citizens, making available USD 350,000 in emergency funding.

With its figures for the first quarter of the business year 2017/18 (April 1 to June 30, 2017) the voestalpine Group once again demonstrates its unique position in both the European and international industry. The exceptional growth in revenue and earnings, both compared to the first quarter of the past business year and with the immediate quarter preceding, underscores more than ever the value of the consistent strategic orientation towards leading technologies and quality coupled with permanent international expansion which has been followed over the past years.

After the successful start of the voestalpine Additive Manufacturing Center in Düsseldorf, Germany, this past year, the voestalpine Group’s High Performance Metals Division consistently continues its international expansion of this pioneering technology. In April 2017, a new research center for 3D printing of highly complex metal components started up operations in Singapore. Two more production plants will open up in Taiwan and Canada in August and the fall. At the same time, voestalpine is investing some EUR 20 million in expanding metal powder production for additive manufacturing at its subsidiaries Böhler Edelstahl GmbH & Co KG, Austria, and Uddeholms AB, Sweden. In total, the implementation of the additive manufacturing strategy runs to around EUR 50 million.

In line with its strategic focus on customer segments with highest technology requirements, the voestalpine Group has decided to invest more than EUR 100 million in two future-oriented projects at its Donawitz site in Austria. One of the projects is to set up a new continuous casting line for producing extremely pure steels as a sophisticated pre-material for premium rails, quality rolled wire, and high-tech seamless tubes. The highly automated production line with an annual capacity of up to 950,000 tons is scheduled to start up operation in 2019. The second project is to set up a completely new research center on company grounds that is dedicated to developing even lighter, more corrosion-resistant, and stronger steel grades.

voestalpine AG’s annual financial statements for 2016/17 once again confirm the Group’s strong appeal to its shareholders as a profitable investment. At today’s 25th Annual General Meeting, a dividend of EUR 1.10 per dividend-bearing share was resolved for the business year 2016/17. The shareholders thus approved the corresponding proposal by the Management Board and the Supervisory Board. After EUR 1.05 in the previous year, this year’s dividend corresponds to a further increase of 4.8%. The company is therefore paying out a higher dividend to its shareholders for the fifth year in a row. The dividend will be transferred from July 17, 2017 (ex-dividend date: July 13, 2017).

voestalpine Sadef N.V. is a leading global supplier of high-quality steel sections for sophisticated applications in the mobility and energy sectors. Part of the technology and capital goods Group voestalpine since 1991, today the company in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium, celebrates its 70th anniversary. With 600 employees, a revenue of around EUR 200 million annually, and an export rate of 80%, voestalpine Sadef N.V. is an important economic factor for the region.

Despite an economic environment influenced more than usual by political events including the Brexit referendum in the UK, the US presidential election, terror and war in the Middle East, the challenges of immigration in Europe, and the global rise in trade barriers, the business year 2016/17 (April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017) was again successful for the voestalpine Group. In a year-to-year comparison the company increased its revenue by 2.0%, from EUR 11.1 billion to EUR 11.3 billion.

The completion and opening of the direct reduction plant in Corpus Christi, Texas, last year marked a milestone for the voestalpine Group in its task of securing pre-materials on a long-term basis. After finishing the six-month run-up phase, together with successful completion of all the performance tests, the plant became fully operational on April 1, 2017. As a result, starting in the business year 2017/18, the most advanced and largest plant of its kind in the world will produce two million tonnes of high-quality HBI (hot briquetted iron, or sponge iron) annually—a sophisticated pre-material used in steel production. After concluding the commissioning phase, the final project costs are now known, and amount to USD 1.012 billion. The plant has already achieved a positive result in its first month of full operation.

As one of the world’s leading suppliers to the aerospace industry, voestalpine is consistently driving its growth in this technologically sophisticated future market. As recently as last December the Group agreed on a major EUR 40 million investment in a new high-tech forging line for the production of high-quality pre-materials for aircraft components. Now a further EUR 30 million will go to the Kapfenberg site in Austria over the next two years, to finance a state-of-the-art production facility for aerostructures including highly stress-resistant engine mounts, wing and fuselage components, and landing gear parts. The fully automated facility is scheduled to commence operations as early as 2019.

Today Prime Minister Stefan Löfven visited voestalpine company Uddeholms AB at its headquarters in Hagfors, in southern Sweden. The company is the global market leader in the production of special steels for industrial tool manufacturers. With 850 employees, revenue of EUR 250 million in the business year 2015/16, and an export rate of 94 percent, Uddeholms AB is an important economic factor in the region. Major investment projects will be realized in the coming years, and include the manufacture of metal powder for 3D printing.

Due to their successful partnership, the voestalpine Group and Montanuniversität Leoben are major drivers of research and development in Austria. At the second voestalpine student evening held at the Montanuniversität Leoben on March 6, future graduates were given the opportunity to see for themselves the innovative power of the global technology and capital goods group. Around 400 students took the opportunity to find out more about voestalpine, exploring potential career opportunities, and meeting members of the Management Board in person.

With the opening of the world’s first phs-directform facility in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany, in July 2016, the voestalpine Group took a technological leap forward in lightweight automotive construction. A European premium automobile manufacturer is now also relying on this innovative production process for manufacturing of ultra high-strength body-in-white parts in a single step, with an order worth EUR 250 million. voestalpine will again be investing EUR 13 million in expanding the site in Baden-Württemberg by summer 2017 in order to handle this major order, not only creating 40 new jobs but also continuing to drive its expansion in the automotive sector. Today marks the groundbreaking ceremony for the new project.

The global economic environment during the first nine months of the business year 2016/17 (April 1 to December 31, 2016) was inconsistent. The first three quarters were marked by moderate growth trends in Europe, continuing volatility with a recent increase in economic expectations due to announcements from the new president in the USA, stable growth in China as well as a weakening recession in Brazil. Among voestalpine’s main customer segments, the automotive industry demonstrated ongoing high demand and the consumer goods segment enjoyed a solid recovery. At the same time, the railway infrastructure sector recorded slight declines and the energy sector showed continued signs of weakness not only in Europe.

The European Commission has awarded the H2FUTURE project consortium, consisting of voestalpine, Siemens, VERBUND and Austrian Power Grid (APG) as well as the research-partners K1-MET and ECN, the contract for the construction of one of the world’s largest electrolysis plants for producing green hydrogen. The project-partners will work and research cooperatively on implementing an innovative hydrogen demonstration plant at the voestalpine site in Linz.

In view of a report published today in a regional Austrian newspaper about the status of the HBI project in Corpus Christi, Texas—which is based exclusively on rumors, assumptions, and deliberate disinformation—voestalpine feels compelled to issue the following clarifications.