Klöckner expects strongest annual profit in 15 years

Klöckner & Co generated record Ebitda in the first half of the 2021 financial year of €401 million ($477m), according to preliminary figures.

For the third quarter, too, the German-based steel distribution group says it expects operating income to be significantly stronger “than previously expected by the market”. In an ad-hoc release, it gives a range of €200-230m for Q3.

The group keeps cashing in on the continued positive dynamic of steel prices in its main markets, Europe and the USA. It also cites extremely strict networking capital management.

Notably, the flood damage in various German areas have not diluted Klöckner’s outlook. Although the company is headquartered in Duisburg on the Ruhr, none of its warehouses were flooded, a spokesman tells Kallanish. This applies also to mega service centre Becker in nearby Bönen, which was erroneously mentioned in some daily reports, he emphasises.

For the full year, the company now forecasts to achieve Ebitda of €650-700m, which it says is also above the previous market expectation. This would mark the group’s best operating full-year income since its initial public offering in 2006.

Klöckner’s statement continues a series of ad-hoc releases it has published throughout this year. In the course of both the first and second quarters, it announced upward corrections to its initial guidance.

Christian Koehl Germany