On April 22, Finnish steelmaker Ruukki issued its interim financial results for the first quarter of 2011, stating that it has revised its guidance in respect of net sales and now it expects consolidated net sales in 2011 to grow approximately 25 percent year on year. Profitability is also estimated to clearly improve compared to 2010.
In the first quarter of this year, Ruukki's net sales amounted to €675 million, increasing by 35 percent year on year, while its profit before tax was €14 million, compared to a loss of €51 million in Q1 2010.
Ruukki's president and CEO Sakari Tamminen said that in the given period the company's steel deliveries increased to the heavy engineering industry, especially to equipment manufacturers of mining machines, and to subcontractors in the heavy vehicle industry and automotive industry. In its home markets in the Nordic countries, sales of steel products grew, especially in Finland, but deliveries continued to be brisk also in Sweden and Norway.
Ruukki also said that the share of special steels rose to account for 32 percent of its steel business in the first quarter of this year, compared to 20 percent a year earlier, and that it aims to increase the share of special steel products to 60 percent of its steel business over the next few years.