Operating revenues down nine percent to €1.346 billion and a net profit down 35 percent to €21.1 million, year on year - these are the results recorded by Danieli Group, based in Buttrio, Udine, Italy, for the first half of the fiscal year 2019-20 (started last July). In the same period, Danieli's EBITDA amounted to €65.5 million, down 37 percent year on year.
For the company, the negative results derive in part from contingent events, including the closure of its tube mill ESW Röhrenwerke in Germany. The group’s margins were also penalized by the fact that its steelmaking division reduced production as it was operating with unsatisfactory prices and margins. However, in the first two months of 2020, the activities of the steelmaking division were good with a more receptive market and expectations of a better second half of the year.
The group’s plantmaking division reported better volumes and margins than last year but it was penalized by prudential provisions for the start-up risks of innovative plants, said Danieli.
The type of orders in the portfolio of the plantmaking division and the production planning in the units of the group "have allowed an orderly saturation of the departments both in Italy and in the Far East without at the moment suffering significant delays in the supply chain due to problems resulting from the production interruptions related to Covid-19", the company explained.
As regards the coming period, Danieli expects, thanks to maintaining its order backlog at good levels, a clear recovery of results at the end of the fiscal year, in particular in the steelmaking sector thanks to a greater volume in tons produced and more profitable prices linked to a better production mix, as well as a more receptive market for quality products.