voestalpine AG is seeing the first fruits of its strategy launched in December 2012 for the period up to 2020. The Group’s development, based on innovation-driven differentiation in demanding customer industries and accelerated internationalization in markets outside Europe, is progressing according to plan. Profitability targets remain consistently as planned. The only modification to the core targets is the revenue figures, with the original target of EUR 20 billion in 2020 no longer being realistic in view of the continuing critical global economic framework conditions. According to current planning and assuming an average annual growth rate of five percent, revenue should amount to EUR 15 billion.

voestalpine is aware of the proceedings of the German Federal Cartel Office that became known today due to searches at competitors of voestalpine.

In the first half of the business year 2015/16 (April 1 to September 30), the voestalpine Group continued its successful performance despite an economic environment that – viewed globally – is inconsistent. In a year-to-year comparison, it increased its revenue by 4.1% from EUR 5.6 billion to EUR 5.8 billion.

The voestalpine Group is once again driving forward its activities in North America. voestalpine Precision Strip GmbH, a company in the Metal Forming Division, is acquiring the Wickeder Steel Company, based in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin (US). The enterprise has a staff of 50 employees and generated revenue of around EUR 13 million in 2014. This acquisition strengthens the voestalpine product portfolio of hardened special steel strip for sophisticated applications such as band saw blades for the food industry.

It is a further step in voestalpine AG’s consistent strategy of internationalization: Today in Shenyang (China) a new plant in the Metal Forming Division was opened which will produce ultra-high strength body-in-white parts for premium automotive customers. A total of around EUR 25 million has been invested (to date) in constructing the plant which will employ a staff of around 70 during the first phase. Further expansion phases are already planned.

Wolfgang Eder, Chairman of the Management Board of voestalpine AG, will remain Chairman of the World Steel Association (worldsteel) for another year until October 2016. This was announced today in Chicago during the annual conference of the second largest industry association worldwide, which has around 170 association members, representing 85% of global steel production. This is the first time that an incumbent chairman of the organization is reelected.

On October 9, 2015, the voestalpine Group will celebrate 20 years since its IPO. The first listing of voestalpine shares on the Vienna Stock Exchange in the fall of 1995 marked the start of the Group’s privatization and economic advancement, from a ‘traditional’, nationalized steel producer, to an internationally successful, steel-based technology and capital goods group. Today the Group has almost 50,000 employees worldwide – more than three times as many as in 1995. A special exhibition held at the voestalpine Stahlwelt in Linz entitled “20 years on the stock exchange” highlights the key milestones in this development.

Energy-intensive companies are steadily moving out of Germany and Austria. This is the conclusion of a current study by the German Handelsblatt Research Institute, undertaken on behalf of the Federation of Austrian Industries (IV) and voestalpine AG. According to the study, energy-intensive industries are directly investing more abroad whilst letting their capital stock shrink at home.

In light of the refugee crisis in Europe, voestalpine AG is providing immediate support for specific projects run by the Caritas Austria and Doctors Without Borders aid organizations. Half of the total EUR 1.5 million donation will go directly to aid projects in the crisis regions and the other half will support projects in Austria. Within its own companies, voestalpine also plans to create additional training positions for refugees. The group of companies considers this a part of its social responsibility and particularly wants to offer prospects for the future to young people who are far from their homes.

The voestalpine Group has secured another major contract in the pipeline segment of today’s highly competitive energy sector. voestalpine Grobblech GmbH, a company in the Group’s Steel Division, will deliver 95,000 tons of premium linepipe plates for the IGD-E natural gas project in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Through to spring 2016, this business deal ensures excellent capacity utilization in Linz, Austria, where this leading provider of sophisticated linepipe plates is based.

On the first of September, the 15-year old future metal and mechanical technician Dominik Berger became the 1000th apprentice beginning his training at voestalpine in Krems. For many years steel-based technology and capital goods group voestalpine has played an important role as a training organization in Lower Austria, investing in the future of highly skilled employees.

voestalpine currently generates around a third of the Group’s EUR 11.2 billion in revenue in the automotive sector. Its key customers in this sector are premium brand automobile manufacturers and suppliers, and now on the global scale. Safety is the overriding concern in automotive manufacturing, and the Metal Forming Division plays an important role by producing automotive safety components. The voestalpine Rotec Group, a subsidiary in this division, has now secured a framework agreement with a global automotive supplier for a total order value of EUR 350 million. The agreement guarantees capacity utilization in this sector through to mid-2022.

In the first three months of the business year 2015/16, the voestalpine Group continued its successful performance with regard to both revenue and earnings.

From July 31 to August 2, 2015, as the DTM motorsport series gets under way at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, high performance materials produced by the international technology and capital goods group voestalpine will also be in the running. By manufacturing ultra-light system components in ultra-high strength steel grades, voestalpine is driving the continued expansion of the growing mobility market. The Group generated 47% of its EUR 11.2 billion in revenue in this segment during the business year 2014/15; the automotive sector alone accounted for around two-thirds of this total.

The steel plant belonging to the international technology and capital goods group voestalpine in Linz where the company is headquartered is already one of the most modern of its kind in the world. Now, in addition to a series of other parallel projects, the Group is investing over EUR 100 million in a new continuous caster at this site which will produce over 1.2 million tons of high quality steel slabs annually. The largest of the four Group divisions, the Steel Division, is again raising the quality of steel grades with the most stringent surface requirements as a result of this technological development.

The voestalpine Group remains committed to Austria as a location, despite its internationalization strategy, and is investing EUR 25 million into extending production capacity for laser-welded blanks in Linz. Today marked the ground-breaking ceremony for the second voestalpine Europlatinen GmbH plant which will produce high-quality blanks for constructing automotive body parts. Production is scheduled to commence in mid-2016. In implementing its strategic goals the voestalpine Group is consistently driving growth in the customer segment Mobility.

Today, at the 23rd Annual General Shareholders’ Meeting of voestalpine AG, a dividend of one euro (after EUR 0.95 in the previous year) for each dividend-bearing share was approved for the business year 2014/15. The shareholders acted on the relevant recommendation by the Management Board and the Supervisory Board. The dividend shall be paid out starting on July 13, 2015 (ex-dividend date is July 6, 2015).

In a global economic environment that is inconsistent, the voestalpine Group continued the positive development of the previous year in the business year 2014/15 (April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015).

Technology and capital goods group voestalpine awarded the Steel Research Award, which comes with EUR 12,000 in prize money, for the first time yesterday.

It is the architectural highlight of the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg: the 92 m long, 20 m wide voestalpine wing in the shape of a racing car spoiler that serves as a multifunctional wel-come and event center, providing space for up to 500 people.

voestalpine currently has over 70 sites in North America and is continually expanding its local presence. This includes the current construction of a direct reduction plant in Texas which, at over EUR 550 million, is the largest foreign investment made by the Group, or any Austrian company, in the USA to date. voestalpine plans to increase annual revenue in North America from its current level of over one billion euros to around three billion euros by 2020.

For 15 years, the voestalpine employee participation plan has been a unique and successful plan that serves as a role model throughout Europe. Today, the voestalpine AG Management Board resolved to increase the company’s share capital by 1.45% to further expand the employee shareholding scheme. This increases the employee share of voting rights to 14.9% and voestalpine employees remain the second largest voestalpine AG shareholder.

Although the development of the global economy was very inconsistent in 2014 and, after a relatively optimistic start, was marked by an increasingly sober mood from the summer months onward, the steel-based technology and capital goods group voestalpine reported a significant increase in earnings in the first three quarters of the business year 2014/15 (April 1 to December 31, 2014).

Technology and capital goods group voestalpine is now a European and global market leader in railway and turnout technology, generating almost 15 percent of Group revenue in this segment. Buoyed by the current global revival of the railway sector, the voestalpine Group’s Metal Engineering Division, which covers the railway infrastructure sector, is consistently winning major international orders. Supported by an active policy of increased internationalization, rails and turnouts are being delivered to North America, Saudi Arabia, India, and China, amongst others.

Research, development, and innovation have always enjoyed the highest priority at technology and capital goods group voestalpine. With a record research budget of EUR 141 million for the business year 2014/15, voestalpine is Austria’s most research-intensive company.

The steel-based technology and capital goods group voestalpine is expanding its activities in the drawn wire business segment and has completed its acquisition of Italian company Trafilerie Industriali S.p.A. based in Nervesa della Battaglia (Treviso). The acquisition of this leading Italian manufacturer of special wires brings additional strength to the voestalpine product portfolio of drawn wire for the automotive industry.