EANS-News: SALZGITTER AG - First half-year of 2010

The Salzgitter Group records pre-tax profit again in the second
quarter of 2010

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6-month report

Subtitle: The Salzgitter Group records pre-tax profit again in the
second quarter of 2010

Salzgitter (euro adhoc) - The positive earnings trend of the
Salzgitter Group continued in the second quarter of the financial
year 2010 in the form of a pre-tax profit. Contributing factors
included the satisfactory capacity utilization situation of most
product segments and the sharp increase in selling prices in steel
trading operations. Particularly when compared with the crisis-ridden
previous year's period, the business of the Group has clearly
stabilized. The majority of leading indicators support a more
confident assessment of the outlook for business in the second
half-year. The consolidated sales of the Group, which came to EUR
4,034.2 million (first half of 2009: EUR 4,125.7 million) fell
marginally short of the year-earlier level. In the second quarter of
2010, the Salzgitter Group generated an operating pre-tax profit of
EUR 18.6 million (second quarter of 2009: EUR -96.9 million),
bringing the first half of 2010 to a close with an operating profit
before tax of EUR 21.2 million (first half of 2009: EUR -158.6
million). This half-yearly operating result already includes EUR 13.2
million in provisions for onerous contracts in connection with
project orders booked and confirmed where the costs of production are
presumably no longer covered due to the exorbitant increases in the
price of raw materials. The reported pre-tax result of the first
half-year came to EUR -5.1 million (first half of 2009: EUR -195.2
million) and includes an additional EUR 26.3 million in provisions
for streamlining measures. Profit after tax stood at EUR -3.5 million
(first half of 2009: EUR -165.0 million), and earnings per share
posted EUR -0.11 (first half of 2009: EUR -3.07). Return on capital
employed (ROCE) of an annualized 0.4 % was in the black again (first
half of 2009: EUR -8.1 %).

External sales by Division (EUR million):

H1 2010 (H1 2009)
Steel 1,081.6 (799.9)
Trading 1,409.2 (1,683.7)
Tubes 892.0 (1,107.9)
Services 195.3 (146.4)
Technology 429.7 (367.5)
Others/Cons. 26.4 (20.5)
Group 4,034.2 (4,125.7)

Earnings before tax by Division (EUR million):

H1 2010 (H1 2009)
Steel -76,2 (-190.2)
Trading 43.4 (-57.7)
Tubes 13.1 (96.0)
Services 11.4 (-5.4)
Technology -15.7 (-43.7)
Others/Cons. 18.9 (5.8)
Group -5.1 (-195.2)

The short-lived fluctuations in the price of raw materials are a
hindrance to any planning certainty. For this reason alone, it is
currently not possible to arrive at an accurate, quantitative
forecast for sales and profit of the Salzgitter Group. In
consideration of the currently discernible risks and potential, we
nonetheless believe that a pre-tax result above breakeven is
achievable in the current financial year. As in recent years, we make
special reference to the fact that opportunities and risks from
currently unforeseeable trends in selling prices, input materials and
capacity utilization developments, as well as changes in the currency
parity, may still affect performance considerably over the course of
the financial year 2010. The resulting fluctuation in the
consolidated pre-tax result may, as events in the first half year
have shown, be within a considerable range, either to the positive or
to the negative. The dimensions of this range become clear if one
considers that, with around 4 million tons of steel products to be
sold by the end of this year by the Steel, Trading and Tubes
divisions, an average difference of EUR 30 in the margin per ton is
sufficient to cause a variation in the annual result of more than EUR
120 million. More information can be found in the full press release
and interim report published today. (please refer to:
www.salzgitter-ag.de).

end of announcement euro adhoc
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ots Originaltext: Salzgitter AG
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Bernhard Kleinermann

Tel.: +49 (0) 5341-21-3783

E-Mail: kleinermann.b@salzgitter-ag.de

Branche: Iron & Steel
ISIN: DE0006202005
WKN: 620200
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