Metinvest makes profit of $2.7 bln in H1 versus loss of $240 mln, using funds to reduce debt by over $1 bln

KYIV. Sept 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Metinvest B.V. (the Netherlands), the parent company of the international vertically integrated mining and metallurgical group Metinvest, according to the results of work in January-June of this year, received a net profit of $2.769 billion with a positive margin of 33%, while it ended the same period last year with a net a loss of $240 million and a negative margin of 5%.

According to the preliminary unaudited interim financial statements for the first half of 2021 released on Wednesday by the company, its revenue for the reporting period increased by 70%, to $8.470 billion (from $4.968 billion), EBITDA increased 5.3 times, to $3.795 billion (from $715 million), and the margin increased to 45% (from 14%).

The company’s total debt in the first half of the year was $2.459 billion, while in the end of 2020 – $2.937 billion. At the same time, the amount of cash in the end of the reporting period amounted to $1.443 billion ($826 million). Net debt in late June reached $1.016 billion ($2.111 billion).

In a press release, the company notes that in the first half of the year, the group’s expenses on environmental initiatives amounted to $204 million, key achievements included Illich Steel completing the upgrade of gas cleaning facilities for the casthouse and stockhouse of blast furnace No. 5. At the same time, Metinvest signed memoranda of understanding on decarbonisation with K1-MET, a leading Austrian competence centre for the development of advanced metallurgical and environmental processes, and Primetals Technologies, an international pioneer in the fields of engineering, plant building and lifecycle services for the metals industry.

In May, the group increased salaries of production personnel in Ukraine (up to 25%). Metinvest adopted a Code of Business Partnership to ensure fair business relationships with partners.

In February, the group improved its ESG Risk Rating from Sustainalytics, a leading global provider of ESG research, ratings and data, to 31.7 points. As such, it retained its top ten position in the agency’s ranking for global steelmakers at the time.

Metinvest Trametal, the group’s Italian re-roller, was named one of the Europe’s Climate Leaders by the Financial Times.

Commenting on the results, Metinvest CEO Yuriy Ryzhenkov noted that against the backdrop of global economic recovery and rising commodity prices, the group delivered commendable results in the first half of 2021.