Acindar records increase in 2006 earnings

Argentina's biggest long steel producer Acindar has disclosed that the company's net earnings amounted to Pesos 604 million ($194 million) in 2006, a 9.85 percent increase over Pesos 550 million ($177 million) recorded in 2005. The increase was due largely to a positive operating profit of Pesos 776 million ($300 million) and a gain of Pesos 158 million ($50.8 million) from the sale of the company's tube business. EBITDA amounted to Pesos 860 million ($277 million) in 2006 compared to Pesos 967 million ($311 million) in 2005. The increase in costs for supplies caused a drop in EBITDA. The company's net sales increased 9.3 percent to Pesos 2.78 billion ($895 million) last year. Total shipments in 2006 amounted to 1.39 million tons compared to 1.30 million tons in 2005.