January 18, 2008 -- German steel and engineering group ThyssenKrupp AG will extend the contract of its chief executive officer Ekkehard Schulz by two years until 2011.

The final decision on the matter is expected within the next few days, supervisory board chairman Gerhard Cromme said. Shareholders' spokesmen and stock market experts have welcomed the news.

Schulz became a sole CEO of ThyssenKrupp in October 2001 after he had shared the position with Cromme.

In addition, ThyssenKrupp plans to stick to its growth targets despite the tough situation on the global steel market. The development of the euro - U.S. dollar exchange rate and the energy and raw material costs are seen as possible risks before the company, Schulz said at the general shareholders' meeting on January 18, 2008.

For full fiscal 2007/2008, Schulz said he expected a decrease in profit to more than 3.0 bln euro ($4.389 bln) on sales of around 53 bln euro ($77.539 bln). In the first three months of fiscal 2007/08, ending September 30, the company registered a 300 mln euro ($438.9 mln) decrease in pre-tax profit to 700 mln ($1.024 bln).

Source: German News Digest