ArcelorMittal Swung to Loss in 4Q, Sales Dropped
06 February 2020 - 6:06PM
Dow Jones News
By Kim Richters
ArcelorMittal (MT.AE) said Thursday that it swung to a loss in
the fourth quarter of 2019, due to one-off costs and a challenging
market environment.
The Luxembourg-based steel-and-mining company reported a
quarterly net loss of $1.88 billion, compared with profit of $1.19
billion in the year-earlier period. It widened the loss compared
with the third quarter when it reported a $539 million loss.
The company said that results were impacted by impairment
charges and exceptional items as well as the market
environment.
Sales dropped to $15.51 billion from $18.33 billion, partly due
to lower average steel selling prices, the company said.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization
was $925 million, down from $1.95 billion the year-earlier
period.
Analysts expected fourth-quarter sales of $15.84 billion, while
Ebitda was expected to be $865 million, according to FactSet.
The company's net debt as of the end of the year was $9.35
billion, it said. The company aims to reduce its net debt to $7
billion by the end of this year.
"Although market conditions remain challenging, there are
encouraging early signs of improvement particularly in our core
markets of U.S., Europe and Brazil," said the company's CEO Lakshmi
N. Mittal.
"With inventory levels having reached a very low level following
a period of de-stocking, we are seeing customers return to the
market, supporting an improved pricing environment."
ArcelorMittal proposed a dividend of $0.30 for 2020.
Write to Kim Richters at kim.richters@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 06, 2020 01:51 ET (06:51 GMT)
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