In 2020, profits fell from 200 to 42 million euros, sales fell by almost a quarter.
The corona crisis year 2020 also hit the listed Austrian-Brazilian refractories group RHI Magnesita. Sales fell by 23 percent year-on-year to 2.26 billion euros; demand is currently 10-15 percent lower. The pre-tax profit fell by 79 percent, from 200 to 42 million euros, but CEO Stefan Borgas refers to the continued high margins and high cash flow and sees his company emerging from the crisis well.
“It is gratifying that we have a really resilient business,” that was shown in the crisis year, said Borgas on Monday in an interview with the APA. As before the crisis, the dividend is expected to be EUR 1.50 per share for 2020; it was reduced to EUR 0.50 in the previous year. That goes hand in hand with an increase in investments. RHI-Magnesita wants to increase its investments by more than 100 million euros compared to 2020 or 2019, also in Austria, in Hochfilzen, in Radenthein and also in the Veitsch.
In the environmental sector, RHI Magnesita is increasing its investment program from EUR 25 million to EUR 75 million. The aim is to develop technologies over the next four years that are necessary to reduce the Group's CO2 emissions to zero. With conventional technologies known to date, a reduction of only 15 percent would be possible, says Borgas. It is about CO2 capture (capturing) and recycling (utilization).
RHI Magnesita can do the capturing largely on its own, and a pilot plant is being built in Breitenau this year. For recycling, RHI Magnesita will “enter into a large number of partnerships”.
Worldwide, the group's CO2 emissions are 2.5 million tons per year. If you add the suppliers and energy, then it's more than double that. In Austria, the direct and indirect CO2 emissions (production sites and electricity) are around 400,000 tons.
The year 2020 also saw a decrease in the number of employees at RHI Magnesita from under 14,000 to a good 12,000. But that is only a small part of the corona, says Borgas. The largest part was planned as part of the restructuring. A return to the old level of employment is therefore not to be expected, a maximum increase to around 12,500. In any case, the temporary employment freeze has been lifted, and short-time work is no longer an issue: “We now need every woman and every man,” said Borgas.
