Wolfgang Eder, CEO and chairman of the management board of Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine has praised the company's solid results for Q1 2014/15.

Comparing Q1 2014/15 with the same period last year, Voestalpine's revenue was down 2.4% at EUR2.83 billion compared to EUR2.9 billion in 2013/14.While EBITDA remained static at EUR364 million, the EBITDA margin increased from 12.6% last year to 12.9%.

Profits before tax and profit for the period saw substantial gains – up 10.2% and 12.2% respectively – and the earnings per share was up 13.2% from EUR 0.68 to EUR 0.77.

Voestalpine attributes the small revenue drop to lower pre-material costs and structural changes within its metals engineering division, adding that revenue development in other divisions was 'mostly stable'. Having said that, the steel division and the special steel division achieved lower revenues due to a 'generally deflationary market environment'.