Annual Report 2010

2010 ANNUAL REPORT REPORT BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Safety workstations - this is one of the top priorities of both management and employees. Continuous promotion of occupational health and safety,cooperation,and regular communication with employee representatives responsible for monitoring safety al work is a guarantee that we will not neglect any employee's ideas, mainly those related to accident prevention. In total 80 employee representatives in individual units are continuously monitoring conditions and sending monthly reports. In 2010, management received and implemented 725 reports in all. Železiarne Podbrezová's Private Secondary Apprentice School of Metallurgy is a source of qualified workforce thanks to the general and professional high quality education of its students - future employees -metallurgists,electricians and mechanics,who gain the skills and work habits required to seamlessly commence employment. Although many schools in Slovakia are experiencing fewer and fewer students,in 201 O our school opened three classes for first year students for four year studies. After graduating, 46 graduates were hired in 201 O. In 2011 ,52 graduates and 16 apprentices are expected to complete their studies. Moreover, in the coming years we will continue to infiuence the education of Železiarne Podbrezová'sPrivate SecondaryApprentice School of Metallurgy and Železiarne Podbrezová's Private Secondary Grammar School and make sure that if the students are interested in working for us, we will provide !hem with sufficient information on the professional specialisation desired at the company. We closely cooperate with universities, mainly with the Technical University in Košice, which facilitates, under a contract, an external master's study programme. In 2010, 14 employees continued in the second year of 2nd level (master) studies and 21 employees completed the master studies. Our company offers university scholarships to talented students of our private schools. We also cooperate with the Matej Bel University, particularly with the Department of lnformatics in connection with informatics– oriented classes of the secondary grammar school and with our subsidiary ŽP Informatika, s.r.o. , but also with other departments according to the company'sneeds. The cooperation with universities is targeted,with an offer of possible scholarships, professional practice,and graduation theses being focused to attract qualified future employees. In 201 O, directly driven by the increasing number of work contracts the company gradually increased its number of employees,with an average FTE headcount of 3,237 in 2010, i.e. an increase by more than 214 employees year-on-year. The average monthly salarywas EUR 832.26 in 2010,which representsyear-on-yeargrowth of20.6%. The average monthly salary in 2010 for blue collar positions was EUR 728.13 per employee, which represents a year-on-year increase of 19.98%. Labour productivity from added value amounted to EUR 18,884 per employee,while in the prior year it was only EUR 11 ,633. Each year, the effectiveness of individual working positions is assessed in relation to the management structure. In 201 O, the Company continued to streamline its overall management structure and all systemised working positions individually by unit. Given the objectives of Železiarne Podbrezová a.s., as a significant employer, ii is important to say that the subsidiaries and associated undertakings employed an additional 3,642 employees in 2010,ofwhich 714 employees (production and services) were employed in Slovakia, and 70 employees worked for private schools of Železiarne Podbrezová a.s. In 201 O, the subsidiaries in the Czech Republic employed 2,674 people and another 184 employees in other countries. In 2010, ŽP GROUP employed 6,879 employees. As the longest-running company newspaper in Slovakia,our newspaper - Podbrezovan - has been published for 67 consecutive years. lt is distributed to both present and former- retired employees,who receive information about the company on acontinuous basis. The newspaper is an irreplaceable medium for informing company employees and the general public in the region about what is happening in the parent company and its subsidiaries. 1