Austrian steelmaker voestalpine AG has announced its financial results for the first half ended September 30 of the fiscal year 2013-14.
Accordingly, voestalpine's net profit in the first half decreased by 10.9 percent to €240 million, compared to the same period of the previous year, partly due to a somewhat higher tax rate. The revenues of the company decreased by 3.5 percent year on year to €5.72 billion, due to lower raw material prices.
In the given period, the company's EBITDA dropped from €725 million to €687 million compared to the same period of the previous year, which is equivalent to an EBITDA margin of 12 percent, down from 12.2 percent in the same period of the previous year. During the first half, voestalpine's investments increased by 44 percent year on year to €434 million.
Voestalpine expects a slow economic recovery in Europe for the coming months, with more dynamic growth foreseen from the first half of 2014 onwards. During 2014, according to voestalpine, the US economy will show an uptrend, while growth in China will be at seven percent. The performance of voestalpine will continue at a stable level to the end of 2013, while a slight increase in demand is expected in the first quarter of 2014.