Grupo Simec sees increased sales in Q2

In the first half of the year, the operating income of Mexican steelmaker Grupo Simec fell 28 percent from the same period of 2013.

According to its quarterly report released Thursday by the Mexican Stock Exchange, the first half operating income reached 587 million Mexican pesos (US$45.3 million) against 810 million Mexican pesos  (US$62.5 million) last year.

With respect to net sales, the group indicated that these were up 5 percent in the first half of 2014 compared to the same period of 2013, from 12.625 billion pesos (US$974 million) to 13.204 billion pesos (US$1.019 billion).

As sales in tons of steel products also rose by 1 percent in the same period.

The company reported a decline in net profit by 16 percent, from 857 million pesos (US$66.16) in the first half of 2013 to 722 million pesos (US$55.73) in the same period of 2014.