VIENNA, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine expects to post operating profit in the "triple-digit millions" and is aiming for a positive net profit in the 2009/10 business year, its head was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
"We expect operating profit in the 2009/10 business year to be in the triple-digit millions of euros, and we are also aiming for a net profit, on revenue that will be around 25 percent lower," Chief Executive Wolfgang Eder told German newspaper FAZ.
His forecast compares to an average analyst estimate of 385 million euros ($566 million) in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, which would be 62 percent less than in the previous business year.
Net profit is expected to drop by more than 90 percent to 51 million euros, and revenue is seen down 23 percent at 8.9 billion euros, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Eder said that his Steel division had started to run at full capacity "almost overnight" in September, after running at only 60 percent of capacity during the spring.
Voestalpine's Stainless Steel, Profilform and Automotive divisions were all running at around two thirds of capacity, he said. Only the Railway Systems business did not experience a drop in demand.
On average over the last six months, production has dropped by 30 percent to 450,000 tonnes per month, Eder said. To tackle the downturn, Voestalpine cut costs by a fifth and reduced capital expenditure by more than half to 500 million euros.
Eder, who also is president of the European steelmaker association Eurofer, said that the steel sector in Europe was currently running at two thirds of capacity overall, and that there were signs of a pick up in demand.
"What's important now is to adjust production cautiously, step by step. That would make it possible to avoid a price slump," Eder said. ($1=.6802 Euro) (Reporting by Boris Groendahl; editing by Simon Jessop)