Russian steelmaker Severstal has announced its financial results for the first half of the current year. Accordingly, in the given period Severstal registered a net profit of $903 million, falling by 11.3 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
In the first half, Severstal's sales revenues decreased by 5.1 percent year on year to $4.2 billion, as a result of weaker pricing for steel and lower steel sales volumes on annual basis.
Severstal's EBITDA moved down by 10.4 percent to $1.42 billion in the first half when compared to the same period of 2018, primarily reflecting the lower revenues. Meanwhile, the company’s EBITDA margin in the first half was 33.7 percent, up from 35.6 percent recorded in the first half of 2018.
In the given period, Severstal’s crude steel production increased by one percent to 6.1 million mt, while its total consolidated steel product sales fell by one percent to 5.67 million mt, both year on year.
In Russia, steel demand showed a 10 percent year-on-year growth in the first six months of the current year, driven by restocking activity in the local construction sector; therefore, some deceleration of steel demand can be expected in the second half of the year. Severstal pointed out that the company’s proximity to export routes continues to be a major competitive advantage providing flexibility to quickly redistribute shipments between best-performing markets.