Swiss Steel has "categorically denied" rumors of insolvency proceedings. This is the ailing steel group's response to media reports that the company could soon run out of money despite the recent capital increase.
“Despite reports to the contrary, the Swiss Steel Group is in regular and constructive contact with all lenders,” the company stated on Friday.
Last weekend, both the NZZ am Sonntag and the SonntagsZeitung reported that Swiss Steel’s financial situation had deteriorated further. According to the reports, the company is on the verge of collapse. In banking circles, the question has therefore already been raised as to whether the steel producer will be able to meet its credit terms next spring.
It was only in April that Swiss Steel raised fresh money with a capital increase. However, the company is still burning through cash, resulting in an adjusted operating loss (EBITDA) of around €21 million at the end of the first half of the year after a plus of €70 million in the same period last year.
Outlook ‘unchanged’
The Swiss Steel Group is continuing to implement its extensive strategy and restructuring program, the company wrote on Friday: “These efforts have already led to significant cost savings.”
More
Switzerland Today
This content was published on
The Swiss steelworks are in crisis, the right-wing Swiss People’s Party is gaining voter share, and there’s a legal vacuum regarding pee breaks.
The outlook for the second half of the year published on August 14 remains unchanged, the Group emphasised. The market situation remains subdued. Customer production is low and demand is low.
The economic growth originally forecast for this year and the associated stabilisation of the industry will probably be postponed until next year. “We therefore expect the second half of 2024 to remain volatile and subdued,” Swiss Steel continued.
Fresh capital increase?
The poor performance of the German automotive industry in particular is weighing on Swiss Steel. Capacity utilisation at the German plants is low, which is leading to losses.
According to the NZZ am Sonntag, there is speculation on the market that another capital increase will soon be necessary. It is questionable whether main shareholder Martin Haefner will then step in again. At the beginning of the year, he had vehemently campaigned for the most recent capital increase and also supported the majority of it himself.
More
More
Swiss steel industry struggles: government refuses financial aid
This content was published on
The Swiss steel industry faces a severe crisis. Despite repeated appeals, the Swiss government remains unresponsive to requests for support.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to [email protected].
More
Hackers restrict access to Swiss media titles
This content was published on
A hacker attack has paralysed the OneLog connection platform, compromising the ability of people to access many Swiss media titles.
Ex-Swiss rail catering boss handed three year jail term for fraud
This content was published on
Former head of Elvetino, the catering unit of Swiss Federal Railways, has been sentenced to three years' imprisonment for fraud.
Climeworks signs contract with Morgan Stanley to remove CO2
This content was published on
Climeworks, the specialist in the removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) has signed a contract with banking giant Morgan Stanley.
Swiss Bankers Association critical of “Too-big-to-fail” measures
This content was published on
The Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) is critical of a number of the measures proposed by the government for systemically important banks.
SWI swissinfo.ch – the international service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC).
Since 1999, swissinfo.ch has fulfilled the federal government’s mandate to distribute information about Switzerland internationally, supplementing the online offerings of the radio and television stations of the SBC. Today, the international service is directed above all at an international audience interested in Switzerland, as well as at Swiss citizens living abroad.
The Mozambique scandal concerns loans to Mozambique arranged by Credit Suisse a decade ago, which were taken out without the knowledge of the local parliament and the International Monetary Fund.
Switzerland keeps its four three-star Michelin restaurants
This content was published on
Oct 21, 2024
The Michelin Guide has awarded stars to a total of 136 restaurants in Switzerland in 2024. The four restaurants that had previously been awarded three stars will retain the distinction.
Read more: Switzerland keeps its four three-star Michelin restaurants
In Switzerland, some 156,900 people have Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia, and this is expected to rise to 315,400 by 2050 according to the organisation Alzheimer Schweiz.
The Swiss are once again tempted to buy a home, motivated by falling interest rates. But the Swiss real estate market remains constricted by supply that is far too low to meet demand, according to a study by the Raiffeisen banking group.
This content was published on
August 15, 2024 – 10:50
+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
“Demand for residential property has recovered from the slump caused by rising interest rates” in 2022 and 2023, said Fredy Hasenmaile, Chief Economist at Raiffeisen, one of Switzerland’s leading mortgage lenders.
+ Why home ownership is a mirage for most Swiss
The Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) reduction in key interest rates in March has made
Swiss breast cancer screening quality varies across cantons
This content was published on
Aug 6, 2024
The quality of breast cancer screening programmes in Switzerland varies from canton to canton. However, according to a study published on Tuesday, the results align with the European standard.
Read more: Swiss breast cancer screening quality varies across cantons
More
Swiss army neutralised 280 unexploded ordnances in 2023
Redistribution payments between regions will rise by 4.8% to CHF6.2 billion ($6.91 billion) in 2025, the Federal Finance Administration (FFA) said on Tuesday.