Thyssenkrupp sees stair lift sales doubling to $1.2 billion

ESSEN, Germany (Reuters) - German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp could double sales from stair lifts over the next five years, the chief executive of the group's elevator unit said.

"Based on how the population grows older this will remain a growth market," Andreas Schierenbeck told Reuters on the sidelines of a press event on Thursday.

Schierenbeck said that stair lift sales were currently "somewhere between 300 and 600 million euros" ($345-690 million), adding they could reach 1 billion within the next five to six years.

In the last financial year, Elevator Technology made sales of 7.7 billion euros, accounting for about 19 percent of total group revenues. It is Thyssenkrupp's most profitable division.

Rivals in the stair lift market include Sweden's Handicare, Dutch family-owned Otolift and U.S.-based Stannah. Stair lifts are usually priced between 8,000-12,000 euros apiece.

Thyssenkrupp is one of the world's biggest makers of elevators, where it competes with Finland's Kone, Switzerland's Schindler and United Technology Corp's Otis.

($1 = 0.8700 euros)

(Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff; Writing by Christoph Steitz; editing by Thomas Seythal and Maria Sheahan)