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Evraz Returns to Black as Q1 Sales Rise

Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium reported a return to profitability as it delivered a first quarter profit after suffering significant losses during the first and fourth quarters of 2012.

The group reported an operating profit of R50 million for the first quarter of 2013, compared with an operating loss of R283 million in the December 2012 quarter and a loss of R154 million in the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for the period were recorded at R124 million, compared with a R212 million loss during the December quarter.

The company’s headline profit reached R30 million for the quarter under review, up from a loss of R222 million during the December quarter and a loss of R94 million recorded during the March 2012 quarter.

Evraz attributed the turnaround to increased sales, higher vanadium prices and a reduction in costs during the three months ended 31 March.

Revenue increased to R1.4-billion during the first quarter, compared with the R1.02-billion and R1.3-billion revenue achieved in the December and March 2012 quarters respectively.

The steel group reported first-quarter steel sales of 135,512 tonnes, including 11,000 tonnes of fourth-quarter production that was only dispatched in the new year — an increase from the 111,587 tonnes and 133,241 tonnes sold during the fourth and first quarters of the prior year respectively.

Evraz said domestic steel sales increased from 108,647 tonnes in the fourth quarter, to 134,231 tonnes for the first quarter of 2013. Export steel sales volumes, however, decreased by 56% to 1,281 tonnes during the quarter under review, compared with the immediately preceding quarter’s export sales of 2,940 tonnes.

Ferrovanadium sales increased from 870 tonnes in the December quarter, to 1,084 tonnes in the first three months of this year, while nitrovan sales rose from 193 tonnes to 224 tonnes quarter-on-quarter.

Vanadium slag domestic sales remained steady at 104 tonnes during the three months to March, increasing by 3 tonnes from the preceding December quarter.