Annual Report 2005/06 - voestalpine

In the first quarter of the business year, the
Division Profilform started operations in the
new production hall for special sections in
Vyskov, Czech Republic, as well as in the
production facility for industrial storage
systems in Vyshniy Volochek, Russia, which
was erected together with a local partner as
a joint venture.
In the 2005/06 business year, total investments
of the Division Profilform amounted
to EUR 26.1 million. The considerable
decline during the past business year
(EUR 65.6 million) is due to the facts that
there were no expenditures for acquisitions
and that the investments in the production
facilities mentioned above were largely recorded
in the previous year ’s balance
sheet.
employees
As of the end of the 2005/06 business year,
the voestalpine Group had 23,661employees
(excluding apprentices) at its locations in
36 countries. This corresponds to approximately
3.1% more employees than in the
previous year (22,955). This increase results
primarily from new hires within the scope
of the “Linz 2010” investment program (Division
Steel) and from acquisitions in the
Divisions Railway Systems and Automotive.
These gains more than offset any declines
resulting from restructuring in individual
Group companies.
The ratio of workers to salaried employees
throughout the Group was 65% to 35% during
the past business year.
The percentage of employees working at
locations outside of Austria remained at 37%
(this corresponds to just over 8,900 employees).
The Divisions Automotive and Profilform
have the highest percentages of international
employees: 87% and 66% respectively.
In the Division Railway Systems more
than half of the employees (52%) are employed
outside of Austria, while the share
of foreign employees in the Division Steel
amounts to only 2%.
In the 2005/06 business year, the Management
Board and the Works Council agreed
on an expansion of the employee shareholding
scheme that was established in 2001.
Currently, 10.3% of all voestalpine AG shares
are owned by employees through a foundation.
As of December 31, 2005, this corresponded
to 4.1 million shares which are held
by 16,500 (almost exclusively Austrian) employees.
The past business year saw the
expansion of the employee shareholding
scheme – adapted to the Dutch legal system
– go forward to include the employees of
Management Report
Annual Report 2005/06
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