Germany’s Thyssenkrupp posts loss as steel woes weigh

German industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp reported a quarterly loss Wednesday, weighed down by poor market conditions and as it struggles to restructure its steel division.

The steel-to-submarines group lost 54 million euros ($59 million) from April to June, compared with a net profit of 83 million euros in the same quarter a year earlier.

Sales slipped to nine billion euros.

“Strongly opposing market trends and one-time effects offset the progress made in the transformation of Thyssenkrupp,” said the group’s chief financial officer Jens Schulte.

The group pointed in particular to restructuring costs linked to its businesses in India.

The steel business saw adjusted operating profit cut almost in half from a year earlier to 100 million euros, with the group citing “the weak economy and structural challenges”.

The Essen-based group confirmed its outlook for the financial year, which it had downgraded last month.

It expects annual sales to decline by between six to eight percent from the previous fiscal year and operating profit to decrease to about 500 million euros.

Once a symbol of German industrial might, Thyssenkrupp has suffered in recent years as falling prices and fierce competition from Asian rivals hammered its traditional steel business.

The group has been seeking to separate its troubled steel unit but the process is proving difficult.

Earlier this year, it completed a key step by selling a stake to a group owned by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.

But a meeting of the group’s supervisory board last week could not agree on a long-term financing plan for the division.

Thyssenkrupp already announced earlier this year that it planned to cut jobs and reduce production at its key steel plant in Duisburg, although the exact number of losses has not yet been decided. (BSS/AFP)