SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian steelmaker CSN reported a fourth-quarter net loss related to what it called “still high volumes of financial expenses,” but saw core earnings and revenues exceed market expectations.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
CSN is one of Brazil’s largest steelmakers and miners.
BY THE NUMBERS
CSN had a net loss of 85 million reais ($14.66 million) in the October-December quarter, it said in a securities filing, sliding into the red after the 851 million real profit reported a year earlier.
The company posted 3.33 billion reais in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), down 8% year-on-year but beating analysts’ expectations of 2.87 billion reais, based on an LSEG poll.
Net revenue totaled 12.03 billion reais, while analysts projected 11.8 billion reais. Steel sales rose 10.4% on a yearly basis, whereas iron ore sales were down 3.7%.
KEY QUOTES
“The steelmaking operation took another step in the process of normalizing operations and recovering profitability,” CSN said, adding it achieved stronger volumes and higher prices, boosted by the domestic market, despite a weaker seasonality.
The mining business had volumes impacted by the start of the rainy season, but “maintained a solid production pace and managed to benefit from the upward trajectory of iron ore prices,” CSN said.
MARKET COMMENTS
Analysts at JPMorgan said that both CSN and its publicly traded mining division CSN Mineracao exceeded their forecasts for the quarter on better-than-expected costs, striking a positive outlook.
“The beat was driven by strong performances from its key business units, mainly steel, mining and cement,” JPMorgan said. “An upward revision of consensus estimates is expected.”
($1 = 5.7989 reais)
(Reporting by Andre Romani and Gabriel Araujo, Editing by Louise Heavens)
Comments