Frankfurt (Reuters) - The Duisburg-based steel trader Klöckner & Co wants to counter the losses caused by the sluggish economy and lower steel prices in Europe with job cuts.

Around 300 jobs will be cut in European steel trading, including around 80 in Germany, announced CEO Guido Kerkhoff on Tuesday when presenting the figures for the third quarter. The aim is to achieve an annual improvement in EBITDA of around 25 million euros from 2024. The negative effects, for example for severance payments and other measures, would be largely covered by the sale of land and buildings.

The SDax-listed company trades in steel and steel products and employs a total of 7,700 people at 160 locations in 13 countries. The share price rose by more than eight percent at times on Tuesday.

Unlike in Europe, business in North America was going quite well, said Kerkhoff. Demand is being fueled by infrastructure projects, among other things. There are also positive effects in the automotive sector or in rail and shipbuilding. The construction sector, on the other hand, is not developing very well, but better than in Europe. Overall, KlöCo can be pleased to be well positioned in North America. The company generates more than half of its sales here, and the share of profit is even higher.

Overall, KlöCo lowered its expectations for the current financial year. The company now only expects an adjusted operating result (EBITDA) of 170 to 200 million euros, instead of the previously expected 220 to 280 million euros. In the previous year, Klöckner & Co had earned considerably more at 417 million euros. In the third quarter, EBITDA of 41 million euros was at the lower end of the forecast range of 40 to 80 million euros, but significantly above the previous year's result of 16 million euros.

(Report by Tom Käckenhoff, edited by Sabine Wollrab. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)