Voestalpine warns outlook depends on continued gas supplies

BERLIN (Reuters) - Austria's Voestalpine warned on Thursday that it expected a significant cooling of the economy in the second half of its fiscal year and said its earnings guidance depended on Europe continuing to receive sufficient supplies of natural gas.

The group last month said it expected to reach the upper end of its full-year guidance range for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 1.8 billion to 2 billion euros, down from 2.29 billion a year earlier.

It posted operating profit of 877 million for its fiscal first quarter to the end of June.

The maker of finished parts for the automotive, aerospace and rail industries said that it expected especially sales to the construction and mechanical engineering sectors as well as for consumer and white goods to be affected by a cooling of the economy.

The rail, energy and aerospace sectors, meanwhile, should continue to show positive momentum, and strong order books by carmakers indicate that demand from the automotive industry will be at least stable during the remainder of the fiscal year, Voestalpine said.

(Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Riham Alkousaa)