Austrian steelmaker voestalpine AG has announced that its profitability targets remain consistent with its “Strategy 2020” growth plan; however, as a result of the reexamination of targets, the only modification to the core targets is in the revenue figures, with the original target of €20 billion in 2020 no longer being realistic in view of the continuing critical global economic framework conditions. The company stated that, according to current planning and assuming an average annual growth rate of five percent, revenue should amount to €15 billion.
Despite an economic environment which continues to be challenging, voestalpine is on target to reach its profitability goals for 2020. In the financial year 2014-15, the company’s EBITDA margin was recorded at 13.7 percent, and the target for the year 2020 stands 14 percent.
In addition, the company’s target for raising the share of processing operations to 75 percent compared to traditional steel production remains unchanged by 2020. Voestalpine’s downstream activities currently contribute over 70 percent of the group’s revenues; only 30 percent is still generated by steel production.
Meanwhile, at regional level, voestalpine is consistently following its internationalization strategy with a focus on the NAFTA region (Canada, the USA, and Mexico) and Asia, with the aim of increasing the share of revenue generated outside the EU from its current level of 25 percent to 40 percent by 2020. The planned tripling of revenue in the NAFTA region from its current level of €1 billion to €3 billion in the future also remains unchanged.