Annual Report 2005/06 - voestalpine

priCe perFormanCe oF The
voestalpine share
The very gratifying development of the corporation
since the decision, taken three
years ago, to completely privatize voestalpine
AG continued in the 2005/06 business year.
It was by far the most successful year in the
company’s history, not only with regard to
the Group’s operating result, but also with
regard to the price performance of the
share.
In the course of the 2005/06 business year,
the price of the voestalpine share rose by
88.4% from EUR 61.30 to EUR 115.46. Compared
to the initial offering price of EUR
20.71 at the time of the IPO in 1995, this is
an increase by nearly 460%. It is remarkable
that, despite the very volatile overall economic
environment, the share price never
dropped below the initial offering price during
the entire time it has been listed.
At the beginning of the 2006/07 business
year, the voestalpine share continued its
upward trend and on May 8, 2006, it closed
at EUR 136.3, a record high that is six and
a half times the initial offering price. Since
then, the price – just like all the stocks
listed on the leading Austrian index ATX –
has been characterized by a consolidation
at a continuing high level as well as some
general uncertainty with regard to the shortterm
overall economic environment.
On the one hand, the impressive price performance
in the 2005/06 business year is due
to the excellent fundamental data of the
Group which reached record heights in the
course of the year. On the other hand, the
voestalpine share benefited from the improved
rating of European steel stocks that
resulted from the expected continued consolidation
in the steel industry, even though
it is no longer “purely” a steel stock because
of the Group’s large processing share. Additionally,
the stock benefited from the
positive development of the Vienna Stock
Exchange, whose leading index ATX passed
the 4000 points mark in January 2006 and
reached an all-time high in May of this
year.
The 15% of the voestalpine shares which
were still held by the ÖIAG as part of the
convertible bond issued in September 2003,
were converted to shares early in the first
half of the 2005/06 business year. This step
increased the share’s liquidity and together
with the fact that the voestalpine Group is
now formally and irrevocably free of state
ownership contributed to the excellent price
performance during the past business
year.
listing in new indexes
In October 2005, the voestalpine AG share
was listed in the VÖNIX – VBV Austrian
Sustainability Index. This is a listing of
stocks of Austrian companies whose social
and ecological performance is outstanding.
The performance of the voestalpine share
received another commendation in March
2006, when it was included in the “Dow
Jones Stoxx Select Dividend 30 Index”
which contains those European stocks that
pay the highest dividends.
The Company
Annual Report 2005/06
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