On October 22, Finnish steelmaker Ruukki issued its interim financial results for the third quarter of 2010, stating that demand for the company's products slowed seasonally quarter on quarter, but towards the end of the report period customer activity began to pick up in nearly all the company's businesses.
According to the financial results, the operating profit of the company was €41 million in the third quarter of 2010 - after also recording a profit in the second quarter - compared with an operating loss of €49 million in the third quarter of 2009. Sales revenues in the third quarter of 2010 were €615 million, compared to €475million in the same quarter of the previous year, increasing 29.4 percent.
Order intake during the third quarter was €576 million, up 40 percent year on year.
Ruukki estimates net sales in 2010 will grow 25-30 percent year on year. Profitability is expected to improve significantly compared to the previous year and the full-year result before income tax is expected to be positive.