Wiener Stadtwerke Annual Report 2012

The Board of Management of Wiener Stadtwerke (from left): Gabriele Domschitz, Marc Hall, Gabriele Payr, Martin Krajcsir
Foreword by the Board of Management
Wiener Stadtwerke is a modern infrastructure service provider
and one of the largest conglomerates and employers in
Austria. Our 16,000 employees make a decisive contribution to
the high quality of life in Vienna by providing services which
are recognised well beyond the boundaries of the city. Indeed,
this quality of life is envied at an international level. Vienna was
recently awarded the status of the city with the highest quality
of life worldwide for the fourth time in succession in the
renowned Mercer study; in addition to which Vienna was also
declared to be the 'smartest' city in the world.
We are proud that our activities as a publicly owned company
are not aligned solely on the basis of commercial success
criteria. Our strategy is defined by a sense of social
responsibility which sets us apart from other major
corporations. The expansion of infrastructure in our city, from
the extension of the underground network to the upgrading of
energy infrastructure, is based on this concept. Investing
around one billion euro in the infrastructure of Vienna year
after year means that we are a major economic factor for the
entire metropolitan region.
2012 was not an easy year for Wiener Stadtwerke. External
factors such as the prevailing high international prices for gas,
on the one hand, and the low wholesale prices for electricity,
on the other, had a lasting negative impact on the results of
the energy segment. Extraordinary items arising as a result of
this situation, such as the impairment of power generation
assets, coincided with changes in the accounting methods
6 Annual Report 2012 | Foreword
applied to our provisions for employee benefits. This was
compounded by a sharp decline in interest rates. Due primarily
to these extraordinary items and despite a package of
programmes implemented to improve earnings, the past
financial year culminated in a markedly negative bottom line.
However, this had no impact on the cash flow of our company,
which remains healthy. We are optimistic of returning the
Group to profitability as early as 2013. This optimism is due not
least to the fact that we have been early to read the signs of
the times and have launched a comprehensive cost-cutting
programme consisting of well targeted investments and
increases in efficiency in order to establish a solid basis for the
future strength of the Wiener Stadtwerke Group. We are
particularly proud of the fact that we have not made any
employees redundant, despite the difficult economic situation.
On the contrary, it is only because of the high degree of
commitment demonstrated by our employees that we are
firmly back on track to future success. And this strategy
involves playing a leading role in shaping the future of Vienna.
Gabriele Payr Martin Krajcsir
Chief Executive Officer Vice Chief
Executive Officer
Gabriele Domschitz Marc Hall
Member of the Board Member of the Board
of Management of Management