FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Thyssenkrupp shares were among the bottom performers in the MDax on Thursday after weak quarterly figures were presented. The papers of the steel and industrial group lost 4.6 percent to 6.352 euros in the afternoon, shrinking their year-to-date gain to 11.5 percent. Compared to the mid-cap index, however, this remaining gain is still above the average for the 50 MDax shares as a whole.

JPMorgan analyst Dominic O'Kane criticized the fact that the second quarter was weak in precisely the areas the market is looking at: the European steel business and the outlook for free cash flow (FCF), which is particularly interesting for shareholders.

Steel Europe reported an adjusted quarterly operating loss of 14 million euros due to significantly higher raw material and energy costs. Although the FCF forecast before mergers and acquisitions has been raised from previously "at least break-even" to now "slightly positive", the consensus estimate is already 337 million euros, according to O'Kane. His own is even 348 million euros, which is why management's statement remains "very conservative" compared to expectations./ck/he