GERMANY’S TWO biggest steelmakers, ThyssenKrupp and Salzgitter, have given a grim outlook for the rest of the year as the euro zone crisis hits spending on factories and new equipment.
ThyssenKrupp yesterday forecast a slump in operating earnings this year while Salzgitter said it would be difficult to match last year’s earnings figure as there were no signs of a substantial recovery in European demand for steel.
ThyssenKrupp sees its adjusted operating profit declining to a medium three-digit million euro range in the 12 months to the end of September, from €1.76 billion last year
That outlook fell significantly short of a consensus forecast for €1.02 billion operating profit, pushing ThyssenKrupp’s shares down by 4.4 per cent to €15.07 in early trade. Salzgitter shares rose 1 per cent.
ThyssenKrupp said it now expected the global steel market to grow by less than 4 per cent this year, less than a forecast of 4.0-4.5 per cent that global number one player ArcelorMittal gave this month.
Salzgitter, Germany’s second-largest steelmaker, posted a slightly bigger-than-expected quarterly loss but said it would be difficult to match last year’s earnings figure. – (Reuters)
