Thyssenkrupp : Speech by Chairwoman of the Executive Board

Remarks

by

Martina Merz

CEO

on the occasion of the

Annual General Meeting

of thyssenkrupp AG

on February 3, 2023

Check against delivery.

Good morning, dear shareholders, ladies and gentlemen.

I would like to welcome you very warmly from our thyssenkrupp Quarter in Essen to this year's Annual General Meeting, also on behalf of my Executive Board colleagues Klaus Keysberg and Oliver Burkhard.

Ladies and gentlemen,

An exceptional year lies behind us, too. For the world as a whole and so also for thyssenkrupp's businesses. Our key question today is whether and how we have made progress with our transformation despite everything. The answer is: Yes, we have. Quickly enough? No. Could we have been quicker? Not significantly. Are we ourselves satisfied? No. Why?

• 1. Coronavirus: The pandemic has lost some of its fear factor. Flexible working from
  home is part of the new normal. However, other impacts are still with us: Restrictions on travel - to China, for example - make cooperation more difficult. Disruptions to supply chains remain a big burden.
• 2. War in Europe: However, the biggest watershed moment is the horrific war in Ukraine. This war and the ensuing energy crisis have dramatically highlighted how fragile our global security architecture is - and how greatly we in Germany are dependent on energy imports. Geopolitical tensions are on the rise - especially with countries ruled by autocrats. All that has repercussions.
• 3. Inflation and recession: Inflation has soared to unimagined heights in many countries. Recession fears are the consequence. Central banks have raised interest rates significantly. The prospects for 2023 were very bleak up to a few weeks ago. No one can at present reliably estimate how big a strain that will put on private households, society and also companies.

The capital markets are reacting to the multiple crisis with extreme nervousness and caution. Uncertainties are receding only slowly, if at all. In light of these developments, we are now faced with very mixed views about the state of the global economy.

The upshot is that planning for lengthy uncertainties and building resilience will remain crucial while the world searches for signs of new equilibria.

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The environment for our businesses could therefore hardly have been or be more challenging. Nevertheless, in this exceptional year we have once again succeeded in making gradual advances in the transformation we have initiated.

Let me therefore start by taking stock of the situation: Where does the Group stand three years after the transformation was launched?

After that, I would like to look ahead: How does the change process continue? In a difficult environment that will also be characterized by fiercer and fiercer competition.

And third, I wish to discuss how thyssenkrupp's businesses can make the most of the opportunities the green transformation harbors. And I can already say to you now that we're very proud to be playing a major role in this disruptive development.

Let's start by looking back.

Three years ago, we set about transforming thyssenkrupp fundamentally - from an integrated industrial corporation into a group of largely independent, efficient tech enterprises.

At the start of this transformation, we said that the process would take at least three years. During these three years, the difficult environment has exacted a pretty heavy toll on us. That slowed us down, but didn't stop us.

So we can already say now that the path we have embarked upon is the right one. Overall, the Group achieved adjusted EBIT of over €2 billion in the past fiscal year - excluding the elevator business, mark you! This was the highest operating profit since 2008 - and we certainly benefited here from of the tailwind at Materials Services and Steel Europe. And: We're proposing to pay a dividend again for the first time in four years.

Let us briefly recall our starting position:

Three years ago, the company was in an exceedingly difficult situation. It had a weak balance sheet. We were heavily indebted. The businesses' operating performance was unsatisfactory.

We regained our ability to act by selling the elevator business.

We then tackled our weaknesses step by step. We initiated and implemented overdue restructuring measures. We reduced debt, cleaned up the balance sheet and thus significantly strengthened it overall.

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The progress can be seen in the figures: Instead of high debt, we now have net financial assets in the billions. Our equity ratio at the end of September was almost 40 percent - that is comfortable.

Apart from working to improve our operating performance, we have also invested strongly in the businesses' future, in research and development, in green technologies and above all in more efficient plant and growth. Despite everything, we've invested in excess of our write- downs over the last three years - even in difficult times when the coronavirus and disrupted supply chains put a heavy strain on our liquidity. As you can see, we're setting store by the outstanding capabilities of our businesses.

The fact that we have worked intensively on the foundations of the realignment has had another positive effect: We've gained a much clearer view of the portfolio. How do the businesses stand? How can we develop them in the Group? But also: Where is thyssenkrupp not, or perhaps not alone, the best owner?

As a consequence, we have continued to work on reorganizing our structure in line with the management model of a decentralized group of companies. We overhauled our portfolio, particularly in the Multi Tracks segment.

• As agreed with the codetermination partners, we closed our loss-making Heavy Plate business in Steel.
• We found new "best owners" for the stainless steel business, Infrastructure, Mining and Carbon Components.
• thyssenkrupp nucera, our water electrolysis business, is ready for the capital market and for further growth.
• In plant engineering, we are developing Uhde in particular in the direction of green technologies. Ammonia, for example, will be one of the key technologies for storing and transporting green hydrogen. And we're focusing Uhde on such technologies.

The bottom line is: Specialization and focus have also unleashed entrepreneurial forces at Uhde as an example. Driven by market trends, and also thanks to the great commitment of our employees there, Uhde is excellently positioned in the "green chemicals" sector - a business with great future potential. I'll come back to this later.

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So as you can see, creation of the Multi Tracks segment is a success story. We have created significant value for you there:

• Due to the above-mentioned disposals.
• But also through promising, opportunity-oriented development paths.
• And the financial outlook in the whole segment is now far better than it was a year ago.

However, the same goes for all segments of the Group as for Multi Tracks: We work with each business to help it advance on its individual path. The strategies of the businesses are the strategy of the Group. That's what we mean by transforming into a group of companies. We can say that thyssenkrupp is enhancing performance and thyssenkrupp is skilled at portfolio management. And that is our way forward, a path that will secure the future of the businesses and create value for you, our owners.

We've also made progress in the restructuring process in the third pillar: our organization.

We've further adapted the management model vis-à-vis the business units with our decentralized setup and placed the businesses at the center of the Group. We have made increasing their value the main task of the management teams in the segments.

At the same time, we have streamlined our governance structures. And we can see the success of that streamlining in the shape of greater decisiveness, resolve and speed on the market. That benefiting the businesses now, in this challenging environment. The next steps here are to further adapt the Group's overarching organizational structures to the management model.

The Group's reorganization also includes the ongoing restructuring program under which we intend to reduce the workforce by almost 13,000. More than 10,000 of these jobs have already been cut - in a socially responsible way and in agreement with the codetermination partners.

And we are also hiring new employees in many future-oriented fields. Ideally, with appropriate training, they can even be transferred internally to new jobs elsewhere within the Group. The shortage of skilled workers calls for creative and, above all, flexible solutions here.

One thing is certain: The businesses can only unfold their full potential if they have the right people on board to do that. In this respect, we are well positioned at present with our qualified workforce and a great deal of expertise in our businesses. However, it's becoming increasingly difficult to attract and retain the right employees. The labor market has long since shifted from

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