Anticipated Developments and Trends

The market expectations outlined in this forecast are part of a groupwide process which also includes other general conditions and a set of given entrepreneurial measures in the forefront of the new financial year to make up the overall planning of the Group. On the basis of this information, we predict that earnings before tax will be in the triple-digit million range in the current financial year, an aforementioned figure which will, however, be markedly lower as against 2005. In 2007, the trend may be even lower than in 2006.

Express reference is made to the fact that opportunities and risks arising from currently unforeseeable trends in revenue, input materials and employment, as well as changes in the currency parity, may affect performance in the second half of the year 2006 and that of 2007 in particular.

The resulting potential range within which the consolidated pre-tax result could fluctuate may be considerable, as already illustrated by the financial year 2005.

For this reason, no detailed statements can be made at this point in time on the development of dividend payments in the years ahead. The cyclical fluctuations reflecting the economic climate as a whole that are usual in the industry are naturally reflected in both the Group's results and the share price. A determinant factor for the Group's ability to pay dividend are, as explained above, the annual financial statements of Salzgitter AG.

Salzgitter AG basically pursues a policy of paying dividend on an ongoing basis contingent on the premise that operations remain profitable and attractive dividends can be paid regularly, which may not necessarily reflect the full extent of the cyclicality of performance. It remains our goal to enable the shareholders of Salzgitter AG to benefit from an above-average dividend yield.