In its financial results according to US GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) for the first quarter of 2013, Russian steelmaker NLMK Group's net profit decreased by 78 percent compared to the first quarter of the previous year to $38 million, negatively impacted by the foreign exchange rate loss of $27 million. NLMK's sales revenues amounted to $2.85 billion, down three percent year on year, due to lower selling prices, driven by the seasonal slowdown in demand.
In the given quarter, NLMK's steel sales volume decreased by four percent year on year to 2.96 million mt. NLMK expects the seasonal strengthening in demand resulting in a corresponding growth in prices for rolled steel in the domestic market to positively affect the steel segment's earnings in the second quarter of the current year.
In the first quarter, EBITDA was down by 26 percent year on year to $318 million, while the EBITDA margin declined to 11.1 percent from 14 percent in the corresponding quarter of 2012.
According to NLMK, expected costs savings in 2013 are $60 million with a targeted structural savings of $100 million per year without any additional capital expenditure required for this.