
In addition to renewed high losses at the new plants in brazil and the USA due to technical problems and a weak market environment, the long booming european steel business has now also collapsed. The essen-based company posted a loss of 480 million euros in the first quarter, continuing its string of weak results.
The group is currently divesting the loss-making stainless steel business inoxum. CEO heinrich hiesinger has also been able to implement announced sales in other areas, such as civil shipbuilding and the service provider xervon. Nevertheless, the manager, who joined the company from siemens a year ago, still did not dare to make a forecast for the current fiscal year when he presented the quarterly figures on tuesday. The "continuing uncertain overall economic situation" makes it impossible to give a reliable forecast at present. The stock exchange acknowledged the interim results at the start of trading with an intermittent minus of four percent.
The technology business with its plant engineering, elevator and automotive supply operations proved to be a support to the volatile steel business. Hiesinger expects earnings in this division to increase in the second half of the year. Hiesinger still wants to expand this area and to loosen money for it. This works mainly through sales. Last may he had put businesses with sales of around ten billion euros on the sales list. There is now a solution for around 80 percent of this. If it remains sold alone, sales will fall from 50 to 40 billion euros. The number of employees was allowed to fall below 150,000. The most recent figure, including inoxum, was 171,000.