Frankfurt  - Giant German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG reported Friday a 772 million-euro (1.1 billion-dollar) quarterly pre-tax loss after the economic slowdown undercut global steel demand.

Dusseldorf-based ThyssenKrupp's fiscal-third quarter loss followed a pre-tax profit of 909 million euros in the same period of 2008 as demand shrunk from the key car and building sectors as well as the shipping and machine engineering industries.

Releasing the results, Germany's biggest steelmaker warned again of the prospects of a full-year loss.

"We expect the pre-tax loss in the current business year, excluding one-offs (to reach the) high three-digit million euros," it said.

Highlighting the global recession's impact on the steel business, ThyssenKrupp said sales during its latest quarter to the end of June fell 35 per cent to 9.3 billion euros.

However, investors marked up the company's stock, with ThyssenKrupp's shares jumping by 2.7 per cent to 23.30 euros in early trading in Frankfurt.

In particular, the release of the ThyssenKrupp's results came just one day after the publication of key European economic data pointing to the recession coming to an end with both the German and French economies returning to a growth path.