Despite raising controversy among its board members, Brazil steelmaker Usiminas said on Friday it will borrow up to $150 million with a group of banks led by Deutsche Bank and ABN Amro.
Board member Marcelo Gasparino opposed the company’s move, saying the money won’t be able to solve Usiminas’ cash flow difficulties in the year to come or even in 2015.
The company reverted a BRL 129 million net profit in Q2 2014 and posted a BRL 781 million net loss in Q2 this year.
Net revenue in Q2 declined 13.8 percent, year-on-year, to BRL 2.7 billion, but was stable in the quarter-on-quarter comparison. The domestic market accounted for 76 percent of the company’s net revenue in Q2, a decline from the 88 percent share the Brazilian market had in Q2 2014, indicating the company sought the export market in order to boost sales, given the context of a devaluated BRL.
Besides the financial cash flow difficulties Usiminas currently faces, it has also experienced a number of disputes regarding the company’s management control, which involved shareholders Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal and Ternium SA.