German steel group Thyssenkrupp doubles profits

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2007

BERLIN (AFP) — German steel group Thyssenkrupp has reported a more than doubling in pre-tax profits in the first quarter of its financial year as the group continued to benefit from the booming steel market. Pre-tax profit in the three months from October to December totalled 1.0 billion euros (1.3 billion dollars) from 425.1 million euros in the same period last year, with sales 12 percent higher at 12.2 billion euros, provisional figures showed Friday.

"Our good performance with first-quarter earnings ... confirms our forecast for the current fiscal year," said chief executive Ekkehard Schulz. Shares in Thyssenkrupp showed a fall of 1.07 percent to 35.90 euros in morning trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange. The global steel industry is in the grip of a wave of mergers,...