According to the press release issued by Turkish integrated steel producer Erdemir Group, in H1 2008 the steelmaking group achieved a net profit of TRY 854.8 million ($696.7 million), up 118 percent compared to the same period of 2007, while its net profit margin increased to 22.8 percent, up nine percentage points year on year.
Erdemir's profit for H1 2008 constituted the highest consolidated profit level posted by the steelmaker in its history. The previous record profit figure was $286.3 million registered in H1 2007.
Due to an uptrend in the supply prices of raw materials, especially coal, coke and ore, costs have seen an increase in 2008. However, based on sustained positive progress in the flats and longs markets, increased efficiency at its facilities and increased sales quotations, Erdemir realized a TRY 3,756.1 million ($3,061.7 million) consolidated sales revenue, up 32 percent compared to the same period of 2007. Gross sales profit increased to TRY 1,249.7 million ($1,018.7 million), up 129 percent year on year, while operation profit rose to TRY 1,085.0 million ($884.8 million), up 141 percent yearly and the operation profit margin increased by 13 percentage points to 28.9 percent.
In the first half of 2008, Erdemir saw its EBITDA increase to TRY 1,310.8 million ($1,068.5 million), up 97.6 percent year on year, while its EBITDA margin rose to 34.9 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2007.
In H1 2008, the producer's Ereğli facilities realized a finished steel output which was 21 percent higher than for the same period of 2007. The 2.358 million mt of total flats output comprised of 891,000 mt of cold rolled and 1,467 million mt of hot rolled sheet. Due to its slab production, the Iskenderun facilities realized an output of 1,641 million mt, up 27 percent. The hot rolled mill established in Iskenderun, with an annual capacity of 3.5 million mt, started trial production in August. So, the last phase of flats production investments in Iskenderun has been realized.
Sales of finished steel at the Ereğli facilities increased to 2.303 million mt, up nine percent compared to the same period of 2007. Meanwhile, total sales comprised of 885,000 mt of cold rolled and 1,418,000 mt of hot rolled sheets. The sales tonnage from the Iskenderun facilities rose to 1.612 million mt, up 28 percent year on year, including the slab tonnage sent to the Ereğli facilities.
Erdemir Group's total investments amounted to $358.8 million in H1 2008. In addition, following the group's transfer to OYAK, the total investment figure reached $1,876.5 million.