ArcelorMittal Fourth-Quarter Loss Narrows, Sees Higher EBITDA In 2014

(RTTNews) - Steel giant ArcelorMittal (MT) Friday reported a narrower loss for the fourth quarter, reflecting mainly a non-cash write down of goodwill in the prior year. Sales rose about 3 percent from last year, and the firm posted a higher Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization, or EBITDA.

Looking ahead, the company said it is cautiously optimistic about the outlook for 2014, but expects EBITDA for the full year to improve to about $8 billion. ArcelorMittal reported EBITDA for the year 2013 of $6.89 billion.

Impairment charges for the latest quarter were $304 million, significantly lower than $4.84 billion a year earlier, which included $4.3 billion non-cash write down of goodwill related to ArcelorMittal's European businesses and $0.5 billion non-cash asset impairments mainly related to Asset Optimization.

According to the firm, improvement in overall economic situation led it to re-start some selected steel growth projects. Further, ArcelorMittal added that its agreement to acquire ThyssenKrupp's rolling mill in Calvert, Alabama has expanded its ability to serve the growing NAFTA automotive and energy steel markets.

ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo joint venture have agreed to acquire 100 percent of ThyssenKrupp Steel USA for $1.55 billion.

For the fourth quarter, the company posted a net loss of $1.23 billion, narrower than $3.81 billion in the prior year. Loss per share was $0.69, compared to $2.47 reported last year. The company said its latest quarter results included exceptional items totaling $1.3 billion.

EBITDA improved to $1.91 billion from $1.56 billion in the prior year. Operating margin was 0.2 percent, down from 24.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Sales increased 2.8 percent to $19.85 billion from $19.31 billion in the same quarter last year. Sales were up 1 percent from the preceding third quarter, mainly due to improved marketable mining shipments volumes and average steel selling prices.

ArcelorMittal recorded an income tax expense of $24 million for the recent quarter, compared to an income tax benefit of $1.6 billion last year.

Steel shipments for the quarter rose to 20.9 million metric tonnes from 20.0 million metric tonnes last year.

Further, ArcelorMittal's board proposed to maintain the annual dividend at $0.20 per share for 2014. Subject to shareholder approval at the next annual general meeting in May 2014, the dividend will be paid in July 2014.

Capital expenditure for 2014 is expected to be about $3.8 billion to $4.0 billion, a slight increase compared to 2013.

Lakshmi Mittal, ArcelorMittal Chairman and CEO, said, "The measures we have implemented to strengthen the business continue to yield positive results...We are cautiously optimistic about the outlook for 2014 and expect EBITDA for the full year to improve to approximately $8.0 billion." MT closed Thursday's regular trading at $17.05, up 3.15 percent on the NYSE. In after-hours trading, the stock fell 0.18 percent.