DGAP-News

Aurubis AG: the most successful fiscal year in company history, dividend recommendation of € 1.60 - Seite 2

"We're proud of the achievements in a fiscal year that was still under coronavirus conditions for the most part - it went fairly smoothly despite this and other challenges, such as supply chain bottlenecks and rising energy prices. Additional positive factors included high plant availability across the Group, the swift and successful integration of the new recycling sites in Belgium and Spain into the Group, and the consistent ongoing implementation of our cost reduction program," emphasizes Roland Harings, CEO of Aurubis AG.

However, there was some less positive news as well: for example, the plant in Stolberg (in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia) was destroyed following severe flooding in summer 2021, though it was evacuated beforehand. No employees were injured. The site has been rebuilt, and production restarted gradually in November. Because the incident was fully insured, Aurubis had no permanent damage. "This wouldn't have been possible without our employees on site and the prompt, uncomplicated support from the Aurubis Group. We would like to express our deepest thanks and appreciation to our colleagues for this extraordinary accomplishment," Roland Harings underlines.

Continued strategic growth, especially in recycling

With the very good Group result behind it, the multimetal company continues to push forward with its new realignment. The corporate strategy has been updated and refined. In addition to securing the core business, the recycling business is a key element of the strategy where Aurubis will continue to grow. Harings explains, "We want to responsibly transform raw materials into metals for an innovative and sustainable world. During the past fiscal year, Aurubis processed more than 1 million t of recycling material for the first time - this impressively shows what Aurubis is capable of achieving today in this area alone." In particular, this growth is planned through local presence in promising international markets. In November, Aurubis announced the construction of a recycling plant in Georgia (US), an investment of about € 300 million. The multimetal recycler wants to process about 90,000 t of complex recycling materials at the new site in Richmond County starting in 2024, further processing the intermediate products into various industrial and precious metals at its European smelter sites to a great extent - but also selling them directly in the US market.