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ArcelorMittal (New York Stock Exchange: MT) +23% before the market on Thursday after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and forecasting an increase in steel demand this year, led by strong growth from India.
Fourth-quarter EBITDA was broadly flat at $1.27 billion, but slightly above expectations of $1.2 billion in a consensus compiled by the company; The fourth-quarter net loss of $2.97 billion, compared with a profit of $261 million in the prior-year quarter, was caused by a $1.41 billion impairment related to investments in Acciaierie d'Italia and a charge of $2.43 billion from the sale of operations in Kazakhstan.
The fourth-quarter profit rise was helped by better-than-expected earnings and average steel prices in Europe, Citi analysts said, adding that steel prices appeared to benefit from the recovery in spot prices. in the last part of the quarter.
ArcelorMittal (MT) said it sees early signs of improvement in steel demand as the destocking trend experienced in the third quarter eases, forecasting growth of between 3% and 4% in global steel demand outside of China this year, driven largely by growth in India, where demand is expected to increase. will increase up to 8.5%.
The company perspective seems cautiously optimisticsaid Jefferies analyst Cole Hathorn, adding that it posted a strong cash inflow in the fourth quarter, which should support more than $1.2 billion in potential share buybacks, compared to the consensus of $1 billion by 2024. .
