UPDATE 1-ThyssenKrupp posts above-consensus Q1 pretax

* Sees fiscal Q2 to be more difficult vs Q1

* Sees clear profit in current FY, but down yr-on-yr * Does not rule out further inventory writedowns in Q2

DUESSELDORF, Feb 13 - German industrial giant ThyssenKrupp unveiled a better-than-expected pretax profit and new orders in fiscal first quarter as its elevators and capital goods units made up for plummeting steel prices.

Germany's biggest steel maker said on Friday pretax profit in the quarter to end-December fell 63 percent to 240 million euros ($306.1 million), as the global recession shrunk demand for carbon and stainless steel as well as materials trading.

A Reuters poll of analysts had estimated an average pretax profit of 215 million euros, sales at 11.629 billion euros and new orders at 10.868 billion euros.

ThyssenKrupp said new orders fell a moderate 3 percent to 12.9 billion euros, buoyed by demand at Technologies and Elevators divisions.

Steel and stainless steel units -- which generated some 40 percent of group sales between them last year -- were hit by a massive drop in new orders as distributors and service centres slashed inventories and kept replenishment demand to a minimum.

Chief Executive Ekkehard Schulz told reporters late Thursday he still forecasts a significant drop in earnings for the fiscal year to end-September but the company would remain profitable.

"We anticipate that the second quarter will be more difficult than the first," he said, adding "further inventory writedowns cannot be ruled out" for stainless steel in the January-March period.

Global demand for steel has plummeted since the financial crisis ripped into the real economy with the automotive, construction and mechanical engineering industries badly hit by the worst economic downturn since World War Two.

ArcelorMittal the world's biggest steel producer, had forecast on Wednesday overall steel demand to fall 7-10 percent in 2009 but the first quarter would be the low point in terms of steel prices, a view which Schulz said he shared.

European steel confederation Eurofer said last week the EU steel market is facing an unprecedented downturn this year, with no respite seen until 2010.

Eurofer's comments reflect the landscape in Germany, where new orders slumped 47 percent in the final quarter of last year, the worst in post-war, according to German Steel Federation.

ThyssenKrupp, which generated 36 percent of group sales from Germany last year, trades at 4.30 times its 2009 expected earnings while ArcelorMittal is at 2.79, according to Reuter Estimates. ($1=.7840 euros)