The company said revenue rose 6.2 percent to EUR3 billion over the same time last year, partly on account of the "very good operational development" of its steel and special steel divisions, both of which reported revenue increases.
 
The steel division saw its revenue grow 8.8 percent in spite of lower prices, which were offset by greater volumes. The company said the fulfillment of an energy-sector order largely was responsible for the lift in revenue, which increased to EUR1.06 billion.

The company said demand from the division’s core customer segment, the automotive industry, remains stable and high.
 
"Despite a certain cautiousness on the part of buyers in China, which is an important market, in the past months, there were no signs of a more broad-based reversal, particularly as registrations of compact and mid-size cars on the European markets have increased substantially in recent months," the company said in a statement.
 
Meanwhile, the special steel division reported revenue of EUR709 million, an increase of 4.9 percent. The company said it is seeing positive momentum from the aviation sector and that orders from automotive sector remain strong, leading to good results for its tool steel segment.
 
"The positive market environment for tool steel in Asia, particularly in China and to an ever greater extent in India, made it possible for the division to continue its trajectory of growth despite weaker market trends in other regions," the company said.
 
To meet growing demand for premium tool steel, particularly from Asia, the company's Hagfors plant in Sweden put a new electro slag remelting system into service during the quarter. Another system has been ordered and will be put into operation by the middle of next year, the company reported.
 
Overall, the company said the first quarter was characterized by "a slight uptrend in Europe and continuing solid demand in North America, regionally differing trends in Asia, and a definite downward trend in Brazil."
 
It said that it expects market conditions will remain relatively unchanged as the fiscal year progresses -- there are no signs pointing to a reinvigorated oil and gas sector, but the European Union is expected to come close to achieving economic growth of around 2% for the first time in several years, which should positively affect the bottom line, it said. 
 
“Against this backdrop and considering the largely stable fundamental economic trends in our most important customer industries, the performance of the voestalpine Group in the coming months should be marked by almost full capacity utilization in practically all business sectors,” said chairman and CEO Wolfgang Eder in a statement.

More information on voestalpine's first-quarter earnings are available by clicking here.