Swiss-based special steel producer and distributor Schmolz+Bickenbach has announced its financial results for 2017.
In the full year of 2017, Schmolz+Bickenbach recorded a net profit of €45.7 million, compared to a net loss of €80 million recorded in the previous year. In the given year, the company’s sales revenues increased by 15.7 percent to €2.67 billion, while its sales volume amounted to 1.79 million mt, rising by 4.2 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
The company stated that the market environment in 2017 was favorable, which resulted in a constant high demand for its products in almost all relevant end markets. To meet this demand Schmolz+Bickenbach produced 1.937 million mt of crude steel, which corresponds to an increase of 6.7 percent year on year. In the given year, the sales volume of quality & engineering steel with an increase of 6.4 percent contributed to the rise in the overall sales volume of the company. While the sales volume of stainless steel increased by 1.7 percent, sales of tool steel remained almost stable, both compared to 2016.
Meanwhile, based on a strong order backlog and robust fundamentals in most customer industries, Schmolz+Bickenbach expects an adjusted EBITDA in a range between €200 million and €230 million for the current year.
As of February 1, 2018, Schmolz+Bickenbach acquired parts of Ascometal, a steel company specializing in the production and processing of special long steel for the automotive, mechanical engineering and oil and gas industries as well as the production of bearing steel. With this move, the company expands its business in the segment of quality & engineering steel and its position as one of the leading companies for high-quality special long steel products in Europe.