ArcelorMittal reports $1.1 billion Q1 loss
29 Apr 2009
ArcelorMittal SA, the world's largest steel maker, today reported a net loss of $1.1 billion for the first quarter of 2009 against a net loss of $2.6 billion in the last quarter of 2008, making its second straight quarterly loss as the recession cut its sales by half.
ArcelorMittal had recorded a net profit of $2.37 billion in the first quarter of 2008.
ArcelorMittal, the world's leading steel company, said first quarter shipments were down 6 per cent compared to the previous quarter ended December 2008, at 16 million tonnes.
Sales at $15.1 billion were down 32 per cent as compared to Q408; EBITDA stood at $0.9 billion, in-line with guidance. Net loss of $1.1 billion due in part to $1.2 billion exceptional charges pre-tax.
Net debt stood at $26.7 billion at the end of Q1'09 and pro forma liquidity at $13.2 billion. The company has extended maturity of $6.34 billion in debt to 2012 through `forward start' facilities and completion of $1.6 billion (€1.25 billion) convertible bond issuance on 1 April 2009.
The company is optimising production through temporary production cuts in-line with reduced demand and these measures have resulted in more than $6 billion of annualised temporary fixed cost reductions in Q1 2009. The cost reduction is expected to top $7.5 billion on an annualised basis in Q2 2009, the company said in a release
ArcelorMittal expects EBITDA in the second quarter of 2009 to be between $1.2-1.5 billion.
''Strong measures have been taken to reduce our cost considerably and liquidity remains healthy with an extended debt maturity profile. Although market conditions remain challenging, a technical recovery is inevitable and ArcelorMittal will benefit from this,'' Lakshmi NMittal, chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, said.