Russian steelmaker Severstal has announced its financial results for the second quarter and the first half of the current year. Accordingly, in the second quarter Severstal registered a net loss of $661 million, compared to a net loss of $100 million in the first quarter of the current year. In the second quarter, Severstal's sales revenues increased by 8.2 percent quarter on quarter to $3.253 billion driven by a strong seasonal rebound in steel product sales volumes as well as by a moderate recovery in steel prices.
During the first half of the current year, Severstal's operating profit increased by 48 percent year on year to $740 million, while the company's revenues saw a decrease of 7.1 percent to $6.260 billion, as its Russian Steel and Resources divisions experienced lower realized prices and sales volumes. In the January-June period this year, Severstal registered a net loss of $761 million.
Severstal's EBITDA in the first six months increased by 25.4 percent year on year to $1.140 billion, driven by an ongoing focus on operational enhancements, improved performance at Severstal International and lower raw materials input costs at steel operations, while its EBITDA margin for the given period was 18.2 percent, up from 13.5 percent recorded in the first half of 2013.
