Russian steelmaker Severstal has announced its financial results for the first quarter this year. Accordingly, in the given quarter Severstal registered a net loss of $100 million, compared to a net profit of $44 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
In the first quarter of the current year, Severstal's sales revenues decreased by 9.5 percent year on year to $3.007 billion primarily impacted by lower realized prices and sales volumes at the Russian Steel and Resources divisions, while decreasing by 11.1 percent compared to the previous quarter, primarily due to weaker average pricing, seasonally softer demand and temporary production interruptions at Severstal Russian Steel and Severstal Resources.
Severstal's EBITDA in the first three months increased by 24.2 percent year on year to $534 million driven by continued operational improvements, reductions in general and administrative (G&A) expenses, further progress in improving sales mix and continued focus on customer care, while its EBITDA margin for the period was 17.8 percent, up from 12.9 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2013.