28 Aug 2009 10:18

Russia's Novolipetsk Steel ends H1 with net loss of $243 mln

MOSCOW. Aug 28 (Interfax) - Russia's Novolipetsk Steel ended the first half of 2009 with a net loss of $242.9 million, the company said in a statement.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) fell 80% to $431 million in January-June 2009 compared to the same period of 2008, while sales revenue declined 50% to $2.586 billion.

The company expects its EBITDA margin to total 20%-25% in the third quarter compared to 17% in the first half and 18% in the second quarter.

NLMK also increased its production forecast for 2009 by 4% to 10.5 million tonnes of steel.