SALZGITTER (dpa-AFX) - Steel manufacturer Salzgitter sees a slight recovery in 2023 after a weak year. The market environment should increasingly brighten over the course of the year, the company announced when presenting its annual figures in Salzgitter on Friday. Thyssenkrupp's competitor has set itself a sales target of 10.5 billion to 11 billion euros for 2024. The management around CEO Gunnar Groebler expects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to be between 700 and 750 million euros. Before taxes, 250 to 300 million euros of this should remain as profit. The first quarter is likely to be characterized by the weaker environment of the second half of 2023.

In the past financial year, development suffered from a cooling economy, high inflation and significantly lower steel prices. According to its own statements, Salzgitter believes that prices bottomed out in the final quarter.

External sales fell by 14 percent to 10.8 billion euros in 2023, while the operating result (EBITDA) fell from 1.6 billion to 677 million euros. At around 204 million euros, Salzgitter also generated significantly less after taxes than in the previous year, when just under 1.1 billion euros were posted.

The investment in the copper producer Aurubis also brought in considerably less than in the previous year, after the Hamburg-based company suffered millions in losses due to fraud and theft. Salzgitter shareholders are to receive a dividend of 0.45 euros per share, after 1.00 euros in 2022./nas/mis