Steel distribution group Klöckner & Co achieved an increase of revenue in its second quarter, however it reported a loss due to an impairment charge related to Becker Group, which it aims to spin off.
Following the sale of several US sites late last year, shipments in Q2 were 1.12 million tonnes, down 0.1mt from the second quarter 2025. However, adjusted for the sites sold, shipments were stood 3.2% higher than in the prior-year quarter. Revenue for Q2 totalled €1.7 billion ($1.96 billion), 6% up year-on-year. If adjusted for the US divestments, the increase was as high as 12%, the company notes.
It reports a negative consolidated net income of €268 million, down from income of €2m in Q2 2025, which was significantly influenced by an impairment charge related to the Becker Group.
Becker is Germany’s largest steel service centre with a capacity of 1m t/year of strip steel. It was acquired by Klöckner in 2010, and was put up for sale in January this year.
In recent years, the unit has seen changes of in management personnel. Market observers have told Kallanish that they believe that operations at the house suffered from the integration into the corporate structures of a listed group.
Before that, business had been in the hands of founder and managing owner Ulrich Lollert and his team. In recent years, however, observers told Kallanish that it had been operated often below its capacity.
Ther announcement of the spin-off of Becker happened close the news of Klöckner’s takeover offer from Worthington Steel. “It may have been a requirement, or a suggestion, of the Americans in the negotiations,” one observer speculates.
Klöckner’s has previously said the intention to divest Becker is in line with the group’s focus on profitable growth in higher value-added products and services. “The divestment of the Becker Group is proceeding as planned,” it notes.
In May, Klöckner had said that several non-binding offers were received, and that the prospective buyers were currently in the due diligence phase, however, a more recent update has not been given on the status of the process.
