voestalpine has concluded negotiations for the sale of German Group subsidiary Buderus Edelstahl. With Mutares SE & Co. KGaA, a recognized investment company is taking over the company based in Wetzlar, Hessen. The contract was signed yesterday and the sale now awaits approval from the relevant competition authorities. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The transaction is expected to be concluded by the end of Q4 2024. The expected financial impact of the sale has already been communicated and is included in our earnings forecast for the ongoing BY 2024/25 (EUR 1.4 billion EBITDA).

The Metal Forming Division of the voestalpine Group is responding to structural changes and falling customer demand in the automotive sector by reorganizing its Automotive Components locations in Germany. In future, the plants in Dettingen, Schmölln, Schwäbisch Gmünd, and Böhmenkirch will form a joint production network, with each contributing their specialist technology and product knowledge. Operations in Birkenfeld will be discontinued subject to the outcome of negotiations with the Works Council and IG Metall. The aim of these measures is to secure the future of the automotive supply segment of the Metal Forming Division in the long term, and with it around 2,000 jobs in Germany. The expected financial impact of the reorganization has already been communicated and is included in our earnings forecast for the ongoing BY 2024/25 (EUR 1.4 billion EBITDA).

The international steel and technology group has successfully issued its first green corporate bond, for EUR 500 million. The bond has a term of five years and a coupon of 3.75%, and met with high investor demand. Private investors may also subscribe during the subscription period running from September 26 to October 3, 2024. The entire proceeds of the issue will be used to finance or refinance sustainable voestalpine projects, such as greentec steel.

Held every two years at the Berlin Expo Center, InnoTrans is considered the most important international trade fair in the transport technology sector. As the world’s leading supplier of complete railroad infrastructure systems, voestalpine Railway Systems will be present once again at this year’s event taking place between September 24 and 27. The Group will be presenting its entire portfolio for all types of rail transport, including mixed traffic, urban traffic (trams/metro/urban rail), high-speed traffic, and freight traffic at an exhibition stand 1,000 m² in size. The focus will be on further increasing availability, the associated optimization of life cycle costs, and the digitization of the railroad track using intelligent diagnostic, monitoring, and analysis systems for more effective planning of maintenance work, and the time and cost savings associated with this.

voestalpine has completed the investigation initiated in February 2024 following the discovery of earnings-improving accounting errors at a German company in the Metal Forming Division. The comprehensive investigation by a specialized auditing firm and a German law firm was launched in the aim of identifying the causes and responsibilities for the accounting errors and deriving improvement measures. Now that the results of the investigation are available, it remains clear that all accounting consequences of the accounting errors in the 2023/24 financial statements have been retroactively corrected and fully taken into account, that no outflow of funds took place, and that the initial suspicion against the persons responsible has been proven to be correct.

The Steel Division of the voestalpine Group will be withdrawing from the business of cam units and sliding elements at the Linz site, and will gradually discontinue the business activities of its company voestalpine Camtec GmbH in Linz by the end of the 2025/26 business year (March 31, 2026). Most recently, revenue totaled EUR 12 million (BY 2023/24). The 53 employees affected have the opportunity to transfer to other voestalpine business units in Linz. The employees will be supported individually in their professional reorientation.

voestalpine depends on exceptional training for young professionals as a key success factor for leadership in future global markets. The Group currently offers 1,500 apprentices around the world exciting opportunities in the technology and industrial sector, 1,040 of them in Austria. With the start of the new training year, about 380 young people throughout Austria are beginning their apprenticeship at voestalpine today—about 175 in Upper Austria, about 160 in Styria, and about 45 in Lower Austria. This makes voestalpine one of the largest apprentice trainers in the country.

With its high-tech special tubes and sections, the voestalpine Group is an important partner for demanding customer segments such as the global construction, solar and automotive industries. Only recently, the Metal Forming Division of voestalpine signed new long-term contracts in this product area with two global truck manufacturers for the North American market. For this, the globally leading steel and technology group is expanding its production capacity at its existing site in Indiana, USA. The investment for the expansion amounts to EUR 70 million (USD 78 million) and will create 110 new jobs.

voestalpine Railway Systems, the world's leading supplier of complete railroad infrastructure systems, supplies premium rails, high-speed turnouts and signaling technology to major international projects. voestalpine, which has already equipped numerous world cities with high-tech railroad infrastructure, is currently playing a key role in the modernization of the Vienna streetcar and subway network as the main supplier to Wiener Linien. This year and next year alone, around 20 kilometers of heavy-duty rails will be produced at the voestalpine site in Donawitz for the renewal and an additional 16 kilometers for the construction of three new streetcar lines, with the turnouts coming from Zeltweg.

Following the successful premiere of the voestalpine cares run last year, this year’s worldwide movement initiative was another resounding success. Under the motto “moving together and doing good,” voestalpine employees ran, walked, hiked, handcycled, and wheelchaired through the three-month campaign. Along the way, they used an app to collect digital points known as “cares,” which voestalpine then converted into donations for charitable causes. The total donation of 700,000 euros generated by the voestalpine cares run have now been handed over to Doctors Without Borders, Hilfswerk International, the Austrian Red Cross, and UNICEF for selected national and international aid projects.

The ultra-modern high bay warehousing systems from the voestalpine Group’s Metal Forming Division, made from highly sophisticated steel sections, are in demand worldwide. The company is currently implementing projects, among others, for Danish retail chain JYSK and South Korean tire manufacturer Nexen Tire Corporation. For Nexen Tire, voestalpine is building the tallest high bay warehouse in the Group’s history—50 meters—in the Czech Republic. The project is slated for completion in 2025. At the same time, voestalpine is pressing ahead with the ongoing expansion of production capacity in its Warehouse & Rack Solutions business unit, and recently opened a new production facility in the USA for the American market.

At the 32nd Annual General Meeting today, a dividend of EUR 0.70 per share was agreed for the business year 2023/24 in accordance with the proposal of the Management Board and Supervisory Board. The payment of the dividend will be made starting July 16, 2024 (ex-dividend day: July 11, 2024). The new election of the Supervisory Board was also on the agenda at the Linz Design Center. All of the shareholder representatives (currently seven) on voestalpine AG’s highest governance body were re-elected. One new member was elected to the Supervisory Board: Martin Hetzer, Ph.D., President of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) in Klosterneuburg. Wolfgang Eder was re-elected as Chairman of the Supervisory Board at the subsequent constituent meeting.

With greentec steel, voestalpine has developed a clear plan to transform its steel production. Now, with the launch of the Green Financing Framework, the steel and technology Group has laid the foundation for the issuance of green bonds and other green financing instruments. As the first European steel company to publish its Green Financing Framework, voestalpine has once again confirmed that it sets the environmental benchmark in its industry.

The 32nd regular Annual General Meeting of voestalpine AG on July 3, 2024 will also include the reelection of the Supervisory Board. All of the board’s seven shareholder representatives are running for reelection. Martin Hetzer, President of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) in Klosterneuburg, is a new candidate for the Supervisory Board.

With a unique flagship project, voestalpine, together with Mercedes-Benz and TSR Recycling, aims to demonstrate the technical feasibility of circular economy projects in the premium segment—from the recycling of post-consumer scrap (“old scrap”) into high-quality scrap to further processing in the steel-producing industry into high-quality steel grades and use in the automotive industry. In this way, the steel and technology Group is making an important contribution to sustainability and at the same time evaluating new opportunities for its increasing demand for scrap in connection with the transformation to green steel production.

After almost 20 years with the voestalpine Group, Martin Fuhrmann (51) joined the Management Board team of the High Performance Metals Division on April 1, 2024. The Burgenland native is now responsible for the division’s sales and service area, which includes around 75 companies at a total of over 130 locations on five continents. He has thus taken over the responsibilities of Reinhard Nöbauer who, as previously reported, has been appointed to the Management Board of voestalpine AG and is now Head of the High Performance Metals Division. The High Performance Metals Division specializes in the production and processing of tool and special steels, for example for the global automotive, energy, and aerospace industries, and generated revenue of EUR 3.8 billion in the 2022/23 business year with around 13,700 employees.

voestalpine Böhler Welding, a leading global company in the field of welding technology, acquires a majority stake in the premium welding wire manufacturer ITALFIL S.p.A. The Italian company currently has 110 employees and achieved an annual turnover of EUR 43 million in the past business year. For voestalpine, this acquisition expands the product portfolio, particularly in the semi and fully automated high-quality welding technology sector.

Kurt Satzinger succeeds Franz Androsch, voestalpine’s long-standing Head of R&D, who is retiring. voestalpine is one of the most research-intensive companies in Austria, counting around 800 R&D employees in over 70 companies and more than 100 scientific partners worldwide. The focus of research activities is increasingly on digital and resource-saving products and processes. The Group has allocated a record research budget of EUR 231 million for the current business year 2024/25.

voestalpine has produced the world’s first high-quality “green” wire rod from hydrogen-reduced pure iron and scrap at its site in Donawitz. The hydrogen-reduced pure iron was produced in the Hyfor pilot plant, while the landmark melting was carried out in the Group’s own Technikum Metallurgie research facility, a unique small but complete steel plant. The CO₂-reduced steel was further processed in the wire rod mill to produce roller-bearing steel, which is characterized by its particular hardness and wear resistance. The production of high-quality, CO₂-reduced steel grades is one of the biggest technological challenges in the transition to green steel production.

With greentec steel, voestalpine has a clear plan for decarbonizing steel production. voestalpine is not alone in its mission to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: more and more customers also want to reduce their carbon footprint by using high-quality CO₂-reduced premium steel. The steel and technology Group is already providing 35 companies from various industries with superior steel products in the greentec steel Edition. Designer furniture, wind turbines, and cranes are just a few examples of products that can be manufactured more sustainably through an optimized production process. voestalpine itself recently used the green steel to build a new belt conveyor, which will also supply the planned electric arc furnace (EAF) in Linz with raw materials in the future.

With up to 20,000 participants and around 100,000 spectators along the course, the Linz Danube Marathon is an annual fixture in the Upper Austrian sporting calendar. This year, voestalpine will once again support the 22nd edition of the running event on April 7 as a strong partner, as well as providing the winners' trophies. Numerous voestalpine employees will also be lacing up their running shoes.

The Management Board of voestalpine AG is reacting to the changed economic conditions for industrial manufacturing companies and is reorganizing production sites in Germany. This step is a consistent implementation of voestalpine Group's strategy of focusing the materials business on the highest quality spectrum and expanding the downstream business in promising global segments.

With around 750,000 visitors since it opened in 2009, voestalpine Stahlwelt is a popular destination for schoolchildren, students and individual visitors who want to experience innovation and technology in steel production and use at first hand. Starting in July 2024, voestalpine Stahlwelt will be fundamentally adapted and modernized over the next 1 ½ years. The costs amount to around EUR 20 million. The event area will continue to operate to a limited extent and the popular tours through the voestalpine plant site will also be possible during the renovation work.

As reported, Robert Ottel leaves voestalpine on March 31, after a total of 27 years at the company, 19 of which as the Group’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The respected financial expert has not extended his contract, and plans to pursue new professional challenges. This marks the end of an era at voestalpine.

Construction work for Austria’s largest climate protection program is already in full swing. By commissioning Primetals Technologies Austria GmbH to supply the electric arc furnace (EAF)—the technological heart of the transformation to steel production powered by green electricity—voestalpine has taken an important next step in realizing this major project.