ThyssenKrupp continues upward trend in first quarter 2010/2011
ThyssenKrupp AG is returning to its long-term growth track. For the first quarter of the 2010/2011 fiscal year, the Group expects year-on-year growth in order intake and sales, with provisional figures indicating that each will exceed €11 billion. Despite higher startup losses for the new steel plants in the USA and Brazil, adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (adjusted EBIT) are expected to come in level with the prior year (Q1 2009/2010: €277 million). With the exception of Steel Americas, all business areas made a positive contribution to this performance. The negative earnings contribution of the Steel Americas business area in the first quarter of the current fiscal year will be roughly €300 million higher than in the comparative prior-year quarter (Q1 2009/2010: €(71) million) due to startup costs and depreciation. The Group’s earnings show that the structural earning power of the Group has improved considerably. “This shows that we are on track to meet our ambitious targets for the full year,” said Dr. Ekkehard Schulz, Executive Board Chairman of ThyssenKrupp AG.

After 12 years at the helm of the Group, Schulz will address the General Stockholders’ Meeting in Bochum today for the last time as Chairman of the Executive Board before handing over to his successor – former Siemens director Dr. Heinrich Hiesinger.