VIENNA--Austrian specialty-steel company Voestalpine AG's
(VOE.VI) profit in the second quarter of the year ending March 2015
increased, despite a drop in sales, partly due to positive one-off
effects and lower financing costs, the company said Wednesday.
Voestalpine said net profit in the quarter that ended Sept. 30,
2014, increased sharply to 195.1 million euros ($244.23 million)
from EUR55.1 million in the corresponding period a year earlier.
Revenue was down 0.7% to EUR2.73 billion from EUR2.75 billion.
The company's results beat analysts' expectations. In a poll
conducted by Dow Jones Newswires, eight analysts had expected the
steel company to post a net profit of EUR115 million and revenue of
EUR2.67 billion.
Voestalpine said "portfolio optimization measures' allowed it to
increase earnings before interest and taxes by EUR51.6 million on
the year to EUR226.3 million.
It said economic development was strong in North America and
China, but it doesn't see much prospect for Brazil and Russia to
return to growth in the near future.
In October, Voestalpine called in a hybrid bond, which while
helping to decrease financing costs, did increase the company's
gearing ratio to 58.8% from 46.0% at the end of March, it said.
Voestalpine's steel division, which specializes in high-quality
steel and is mostly active in Europe, profited from high demand
from the automotive sectors and a recovery in the oil and gas
industry's pipeline business, it said.
Write to Nicole Lundeen at nicole.lundeen@wsj.com
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