voestalpine sees FY 10 operating profit in triple digit millions
Sunday, 01 Nov 2009
Reuters quoted Mr Wolfgang Eder CEO of voestalpine as saying that it expects to post operating profit in the triple digit millions and is aiming for a positive net profit in the 2009-10 business year.
Mr Eder said that "We expect operating profit in the 2009-10 business year to be in the triple digit millions of euros, and we are also aiming for a net profit, on revenue that will be around 25% lower."
His forecast compares to an average analyst estimate of EUR 385 million in EBIT, which would be 62% less than in the previous business year. Net profit is expected to drop by more than 90% to EUR 51 million and revenue is seen down by 23% at EUR 8.9 billion.
Mr Eder said that his Steel division had started to run at full capacity almost overnight in September, after running at only 60% of capacity during the spring. He added that voestalpine's Stainless Steel, Profilform and Automotive divisions were all running at around two thirds of capacity. Only the Railway Systems business did not experience a drop in demand.
He said that on average over the last 6 months, production has dropped by 30% to 450,000 tonnes per month and to tackle the downturn, voestalpine cut costs by a fifth and reduced capital expenditure by more than half to EUR 500 million.
Meanwhile, Mr Eder said that the steel sector in Europe is currently running at two thirds of capacity overall, and that there are signs of a pick up in demand. He added that "What's important now is to adjust production cautiously, step by step. That would make it possible to avoid a price slump."
