(Minews) - Steel titan ArcelorMittal said Friday that it narrowed its net loss in the fourth quarter from a year earlier as it sought to offset lower steel and iron ore prices with higher steel shipments.
It also warned that the current year would be challenging and forecast lower profitability following a slump in iron ore prices.
The Luxembourg-based steelmaker, the world’s largest by steel shipments, narrowed its net loss to $955 million in the fourth quarter compared with an impairment-weighted net loss of $1.23 billion in the same period a year earlier. The figure missed analysts’ expectations for a net profit of $442 million based on a Factset poll.
ArcelorMittal suffered from impairment charges related to its iron ore and steel business as well as foreign exchange and net financing costs that amounted to more than $800 million during the fourth quarter.
Revenue fell 5.7% to $18.72 billion in the fourth quarter compared with the same period a year earlier due to lower iron ore shipments, a 45% drop in achieved iron ore prices and 8% drop in average steel selling prices which more than offset higher steel shipments.
ArcelorMittal said it expects to generate between $6.5 billion and $7 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, this year after generating $7.24 billion last year, broadly in line with analysts’ expectations.
“Although operating conditions remain tough we expect steel markets to continue to improve [in 2015], particularly for high value-added products such as automotive,” said Lakshmi Mittal , the company’s chief executive.
