In its financial results according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the first quarter of the current year, Russian steelmaker NLMK Group's net profit decreased by 24 percent year on year to $382 million, due to higher cost of sales and exchange rate differences. The company's sales revenues amounted to $2.87 billion, up three percent year on year. Despite an 11 percent year-on-year increase in sales volume, average sales prices in the given period were eight percent lower compared to the first quarter of 2018.
In the first quarter this year, NLMK Group's EBITDA was $695 million, falling by 14 percent year on year, while its EBITDA margin increased to 24 percent compared to 29 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.
According to NLMK, in the second quarter, its steel output will decline by 6-8 percent quarter on quarter due to the start of the blast furnace No. 6 overhaul and repairs underway in BOF shop No. 2 at NLMK Lipetsk. As a consequence, a quarter-on-quarter decline in sales is expected with expansion of the share of finished steel in its sales portfolio.