Thyssenkrupp, Germany’s largest steelmaker, reported fiscal third-quarter profit fell 18 per cent as record steel exports from China continued to put pressure on prices.

Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes dropped to €441 million in the three months through June from €539 million a year earlier, the Essen-based company saidin a statement on Thursday.

Thyssenkrupp reiterated its fiscal-year profit forecast of at least €1.4 billion.

Chief executive officer Heinrich Hiesinger has been moving to change Thyssenkrupp, known for its focus on steelmaking, into an industrial group specialising in everything from elevators to auto parts and submarine building.

It may take as long as three years for the company to reach its profit goals because the steel industry is stuck in a “nightmare” of low prices and cheap Chinese exports, the chief executive said in June.

But in the fiscal third quarter, there were “clear signs of recovery”, the company said inThursday’s statement.

“We are now seeing initial improvements in material prices,” Mr Hiesinger said. “This will have a favorable impact on our future earnings.”

Net incomein the fiscal third quarter fell about 35 per cent from a year earlier to €130 million.

Sales declined 12 per cent to €9.87 billion, trailing the €10.4 billion average estimate, the company said.

Bloomberg