Luxembourg-based international steel and mining company ArcelorMittal bounced back into profitability with a net income of $1.8 billion (€1.69 billion) for 2016, a substantial jump on 2015’s net losses of $7.95 billion (€7.4 billion), and its first annual profit in five years.
Laskhmi N Mittal, ArcelorMittal chairman and CEO, ascribed the good news to improved market and trade conditions as the company announced its year-end and fourth quarter results for last year.
“2016 was a year of progress for ArcelorMittal, characterised by improving market conditions, a strong contribution from our Action 2020 programme and steps from governments to address unfair trade,” he said.
Mr Mittal said that with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation considerably in excess of initial expectations the company had resultantly been able to prioritise debt reduction, ending the year with the lowest level of net debt since the company started.
Net debt amounted to $11.1 billion (€10.46 billion) at the end of 2016, $4.6 billion (€4.34 billion) lower than the end of 2015.
The company feels poised to look positively towards 2017, with some precautions.
“We enter 2017 with good momentum in the business and the market. Our increased confidence is reflected in the Board’s decision to increase capital expenditure for 2017. The improvement in performance is, however, from a low base so we will need to continue to prioritise improved returns. Central to this will be our Action 2020 programme which will sustainably improve the underlying performance of the business. We remain fully focussed on continuing the good progress in the three areas of cost optimisation, product mix and volume growth. In addition, given global overcapacity, ensuring fair trade remains crucial and we will continue to call for a comprehensive solution to unfair trade practises,” said Mr Mittal.
