Thyssenkrupp’s supervisory board has decided to extend Martina Merz’s tenure as chief executive by a further five years to March 2028, Kallanish notes.
Merz became acting ceo of the troubled conglomerate in 2019 following the ousting of Guido Kerkhoff, who had been in the position for only one year. She was made permanent chief in 2020.
Under her leadership, and following the failed merger between thyssenkrupp Steel Europe and Tata Steel Europe in 2019, thyssenkrupp decided to spin-off its steel business into a standalone unit. However, this plan was suspended in March amid the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
In the six months through March 2022 the steelmaking unit lifted revenue by 46% on-year to €6.06 billion ($6.42 billion) despite a drop in tonnages. Pre-tax profit (Ebit) saw a massive turnaround from a loss of €137 million a year earlier to a plus of €607m.
“On behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, I would like to thank Martina Merz for the resolute approach to the transformation of thyssenkrupp,” says thyssenkrupp supervisory board chairman Siegfried Russwurm. “We are pleased that Ms. Merz has agreed to continue to drive forward this change process in her role as Chairman of the Executive Board of the Company.”
Adam Smith Germany
