Annual General Meeting of Shareholders agrees dividend of € 0.75 per share; affirmation of leadership aspiration in transforming the steel industry

• Salzgitter AG holds virtual Annual General Meeting
• All resolutions put forward passed with the requisite approvals
• Review of a successful financial year with the highest pre-tax profit for 13 years
• Initial progress made under the “Salzgitter AG 2030” strategy to establish the company as a leader in the circular economy
• Full realization of the SALCOS^® - Salzgitter Low CO₂-Steelmaking transformation program envisaged by 2033; CEO Gunnar Groebler: “We are ready! Now it is up to the policymakers to set in place the right economic and political framework conditions.”
• Guidance confirmed for sales of just under € 11 billion and a pre-tax profit of between € 750 million and € 900 million

“A new mindset for a new industry” was the motto underscored by CEO Gunnar Groebler in the concluding statement of his speech at today’s Annual General Meeting of Salzgitter AG, once again held in a virtual format. In a first step, he presented the financial year 2021 when the best pre-tax result for 13 years was generated and confirmed the outlook for the current year, which was revised upward thanks to the excellent first quarter. Groebler also elaborated on the new “Salzgitter AG 2030” strategy presented in February and reported on the initial progress made.

All in all, 69.84% of Salzgitter AG’s share capital was represented. The shareholders of Salzgitter AG passed all resolutions put forward by the Supervisory Board and Executive Board with the requisite approvals. In addition, the shareholders discharged the Supervisory Board (97.64% of the vote) and the Executive Board (99.97%) for the financial year 2021 by a large majority. The Annual General Meeting concurred with the dividend proposal put forward by the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board and resolved to distribute dividend of € 0.75 per share for the financial year 2021. Set in the context of year-end closing price, this corresponds to a dividend yield of 2.4 %.

The Salzgitter Group closed the financial year 2021, with a pre-tax profit of € 705.7 million, and also the start to the current financial year was exceptionally pleasing. With earnings before taxes of € 465.3 million in the first three months of 2022, the company delivered the highest operating quarterly result in its history. For the remainder of the year, we are optimistic, but are keeping a very close eye on the risks resulting from the current geopolitical situation, especially price and energy supply risks. We anticipate an increase in sales to just under € 11 billion and earnings before taxes (EBT) of between € 750 million and € 900 million in the financial year 2022. In the context of the above, we have taken commodity and energy costs as well as steel prices at the current level as a basis and assume an ongoing unrestricted availability of natural gas as a precondition for maintaining production.

In his explanations, Gunnar Groebler emphasized that achieving the aim of establishing the Group as an independent market leader for circular economy solutions with innovative products and processes under the “Salzgitter AG 2030” strategy is only possible if accompanied by strong partners and networks. A few groundbreaking partner agreements have therefore already been concluded with suppliers and customers in recent months.

The streamlining of the Group’s structure, completed with effect from 1 April 2022, forms another pillar of the new strategy. Along with leveraging synergies and enhancing customer centricity, the realignment permits even closer, more targeted coordination. As a result, the Salzgitter Group is now divided into four segments instead of previously five. The Group's steel activities are recombined under the new “Steel Production” and “Steel Processing” business units in line with value added and customer requirements. The Trading and Technology business units remain as they are.

A further key component of the strategy consists of the significantly accelerated process of decarbonization in the context of SALCOS®. The Salzgitter Group is reinforcing its role as a front runner in low-CO₂ steel production through this undertaking. Gunnar Groebler: “Experience tells me: It is better to move ahead instead of applying the brakes and then running to catch up. Assuming a positive vote from the Supervisory Board in the summer, we therefore intend to replace the first blast furnace by direct reduction plants and electric arc furnaces as early as 2025. More than one million tons of green steel produced via this route is planned for 2026. By 2033, so 12 years earlier than originally scheduled, the integrated steelworks are to have been fully aligned to the new world. CO₂ savings of 8 million tons a year could be made, which corresponds to around one percent of Germany’s emissions.” Groebler continued by stating: “We are ready! It is now up to the policymakers to set in place the right economic and political framework conditions. This particularly applies to the topics of creating green leading markets, clarity in terms of funds to promote the transformation, and accelerating approval procedures.”

Groebler expressed special thanks to the Salzgitter Group’s employees for their performance in 2021, as well as for their dedicated support of those affected by the Ukraine war through the Group’s fundraising efforts and the “Steel – Model for Action” initiative that offers refugees from Ukraine work and the possibility of further training and qualification.

The detailed voting results and supplementary material on the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders have been published at Shareholders' Meeting | Salzgitter AG (salzgitter-ag.com).

Presentation on the speech of the CEO Gunnar Groebler
PDF, 1.6 MB