Steel Economic weakness continues to cause problems for Thyssenkrupp

The weak economy continued to cause problems for industrial group Thyssenkrupp in the past fiscal year 2023/24.

By the end of September, sales and order intake had fallen significantly, while adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) plummeted by 19 percent to 567 million euros, as Thyssenkrupp reported in Essen. The Group justified the decline with significantly weaker demand from the automotive, mechanical engineering and construction industries.

At the bottom line, the MDax-listed company reported a loss of 1.4 billion euros (previous year: minus 2.0 billion euros), which was mainly due to write-downs on fixed assets as well as restructuring costs. Nevertheless, the Management Board intends to propose a dividend of 15 cents per share at the Annual General Meeting.

Group CEO López: "Respectable result achieved"

"Despite the very challenging market conditions, we achieved a respectable result in the past financial year," said Thyssenkrupp CEO Miguel López according to the statement. The transformation of the Group had been driven forward.

The Group believes that the overall economic situation will remain challenging in the current financial year. However, due to an expected stabilization of demand in the second half of the year, the company expects an increase in sales of up to 3 percent for the year as a whole. Adjusted EBIT is expected to be between 0.6 billion and 1.0 billion euros. In terms of net profit, the Group expects to return to the black with a figure of between 100 million and 500 million euros.

López said that 2024/25 will be a year of decisions, particularly for Steel Europe and Marine Systems. The Group wants to restructure its steel division and make it independent. The marine division is also to be set up independently.

At the end of September, the Group employed a good 98,000 people, two percent fewer than a year earlier.

SDA