Corporate | 12 November 2015 07:30


Salzgitter AG: Salzgitter Group posts a positive result in the first nine months of 2015


DGAP-News: Salzgitter AG / Key word(s): 9-month figures

2015-11-12 / 07:30


Salzgitter Group posts a positive result in the first nine months of 2015

Substantial increase in pre-tax profit year-on-year

All business units record an upturn in operating business

“Salzgitter AG 2015” restructuring program as the driving force behind the improved earnings

The Salzgitter Group has markedly increased its pre-tax profit year-on-year in the first nine months of the financial year. Against a European steel market impacted by sharp rises in imports and falling selling prices, this improvement was mainly driven by the earnings effects of the groupwide “Salzgitter AG 2015” restructuring program. The result contains a total of EUR 77.1 million in burdens stemming from the relining of a blast furnace at the Salzgitter steelworks, which began at the end of August and is proceeding to plan, as well as provisions for pending structural measures. The financial basis of the Group remains very solid, with a 35 % equity ratio as well as an increased net financial position of EUR 267 million compared to the first half of 2015.

Mainly owing to weaker average selling prices, the Salzgitter Group’s external sales came in at EUR 6,691.7 million, which is just short of the previous year’s figure (first 9 months of 2014: EUR 6,811.5 million). Pre-tax profit rose considerably to EUR 24.0 million (first 9 months of 2014: EUR 5.5 million). This figure includes a EUR 12.8 million negative impact from the Aurubis investment (first 9 months of 2014: EUR +42.4 million), balance sheet provisions for structural improvement measures worth EUR 33.1 million, as well as EUR 44.0 million expenses for the blast furnace relining. The after-tax result stood at EUR 12.1 million (first 9 months of 2014: EUR -12.2 million), which brings basic earnings per share to EUR 0.16 (first 9 months of 2014: EUR -0.28). The return on capital employed (ROCE) was recorded at 2.0 % (first 9 months of 2014: 1.5 %).

External sales by business unit (EUR million):

9M 2015 (9M 2014)
Strip Steel 1,505.6 (1,607.9)
Plate / Section Steel 719.0 (845.1)
Energy 811.7 (939.3)
Trading 2,530.1 (2,404.8)
Technology 978.1 (877.2)
Industrial Participations 147.1 (137.2)
Group 6,691.7 (6,811.5)

Pre-tax result (EBT) by business unit (EUR million):

9M 2015 (9M 2014)
Strip Steel -9.5 (-3.9)
Plate / Section Steel -32.8 (-60.1)
Energy 8.8 (-20.5)
Trading 21.0 (16.1)
Technology 16.1 (13.2)
Industrial Participations / Consolidation 20.5 (60.8)
Group 24.0 (5.5)

The Salzgitter Group is returning to its original earnings forecast issued at the start of the year, primarily as a result of the fall in metal prices and the subsequent influence on the anticipated earnings contribution of the Aurubis investment. We now anticipate:

– stable sales,

– a pre-tax profit in the lower double-digit million euro range and

– a return on capital employed (ROCE) that is higher than the previous year’s figure.

Additional information can be found in the full press release and the financial report published today ( www.salzgitter-ag.com/en ).

Guidance on the development of the macroeconomic situation is already fundamentally subject to a great deal of uncertainty, particularly in the current European environment. As in recent years, please note that opportunities and risks from currently unforeseeable trends in selling prices, input material prices and capacity level developments, as well as changes in the currency parity and metal prices, may still affect performance in the course of the financial year 2015. Additional positive or negative effects can be brought about by structural and methodological changes; this particularly includes valuation approaches in line with IFRS standards. The resulting fluctuation in the consolidated pre-tax result may be within a considerable range, either to the positive or to the negative.

Disclaimer: Some of the statements made in this report have the character of forecasts or may be interpreted as such. These are made to the best of the Company’s knowledge and judgement, and by their nature are subject to the proviso that no unforeseeable deterioration occurs in the economy or in the specific market situation pertaining to the division companies, but rather that the underlying bases of plans and outlooks prove to be accurate as expected with regards to their scope and timing. Notwithstanding prevailing statutory provisions and capital market law in particular, the Company accepts no obligation to continuously update any forward-looking statements that are made solely in connection with circumstances prevailing on the day of their publication.




Contact:
Markus Heidler

Head of Investor Relations

Salzgitter AG
Eisenhüttenstraße 99
38239 Salzgitter

Phone +49 5341 21-6105
Fax +49 5341 21-2570
E-Mail ir@salzgitter-ag.de




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Language: English
Company: Salzgitter AG
Eisenhüttenstraße 99
38239 Salzgitter
Germany
Phone: +49 5341 21-01
Fax: +49 5341 21-2727
E-mail: info@salzgitter-ag.de
Internet: www.salzgitter-ag.de
ISIN: DE0006202005
WKN: 620200
Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), Hanover; Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart
End of News DGAP News Service

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