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ArcelorMittal (MT) Posts Profit in Q1, Earnings Top Estimates

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Steel giant ArcelorMittal (MT - Free Report) logged a net income of $1,002 million or 33 cents per share in first-quarter 2017, as against a net loss of $416 million or 23 cents per share recorded a year ago. The earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 24 cents.

Revenues went up 20.1% year over year to $16,086 million in the quarter, aided by higher seaborne iron ore reference prices, market-priced iron ore shipments and average steel prices, partly offsetting lower steel shipments. Sales, however, trailed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $16,662 million.

Total steel shipments fell 1.9% year over year to 21.1 million metric tons in the reported quarter. Average steel selling prices went up 24.9% year over year.

ArcelorMittal Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

ArcelorMittal Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | ArcelorMittal Quote

Segment Review

NAFTA: Crude steel production rose 10.1% year over year to 6.2 million metric tons in the first quarter. Steel shipments were up 2.7% year over year to 5.6 million metric tons. Sales rose 16.6% year over year to $4,458 million. Average steel selling price rose 13.2% year over year.

Brazil: Crude steel production went up 1.6% year over year to 2.7 million metric tons. Shipments went down roughly 10% year over year to 2.2 million metric tons. Sales increased 28.3% year over year to $1,610 million. Average steel selling price rose 43% year over year.

Europe: Crude steel production rose roughly 0.4% year over year to 11.2 million metric tons in the reported quarter. Shipments fell 2.2% year over year to 10.2 million metric tons. Sales increased about 15% year over year to $8,222 million while average steel selling price rose 22.4%.

Asia Africa and CIS (ACIS): Sales climbed 51.6% year over year to $1,807 million. Crude steel production came in at 3.5 million metric tons, down 4.8% year over year. Average selling prices increased 56.9% year over year.

Mining: Iron ore production edged down 0.7% year over year to 14 million metric tons. Coal production increased 21.4% year over year to 1.7 million metric tons. Revenues jumped 71.7% year over year to $1,030 million.

Balance Sheet

Cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash) came in at $2.4 billion as of Mar 31, 2017, down 17.2% year over year.

The company’s long-term debt was around $11,047 million as of Mar 31, 2017, down 32.3% year over year. Net debt decreased to $12,097 million at the end of the first quarter from $17,329 million a year ago.

Net cash provided by operating activities was roughly $299 million in the reported quarter.

Guidance

The company said that the outlook for the full year remains unchanged. It shall remain focused on progressing in three areas, namely cost optimization, product mix and volume growth.

ArcelorMittal expects global apparent steel consumption (ASC) to rise 0.5–1.5% year over year in 2017. In the U.S., the company sees apparent steel consumption growth of 3–4% in 2017. The company also anticipates modest growth (0.5–1.5%) in apparent steel consumption in Europe. Moreover, apparent steel consumption is forecast to rise 3–4% in Brazil. Demand for steel in China is likely to stabilize in 2017.

The company expects capital spending to rise to $2.9 billion in 2017 from $2.4 billion in 2016. Cash needs of the business are expected to increase to $5 billion in 2017 from $4.5 billion in 2016.

Price Performance

ArcelorMittal’s shares have declined 21.2% in the last three months, underperforming the Zacks categorized Steel-Producers industry’s loss of 17.1%.



Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

ArcelorMittal currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Other top ranked companies in the basic materials space include The Chemours Company (CC - Free Report) , Methanex Corporation (MEOH - Free Report) and Kronos Worldwide Inc (KRO - Free Report) . All the three stocks boast a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.

Chemours has an expected long-term earnings growth of 15.5%.

Methanex has an expected long-term earnings growth of 15%.

Kronos has an expected long-term earnings growth of 5%.

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