ArcelorMittal Turns To Profit In Q2, Cuts FY14 EBITDA Outlook - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Steel giant ArcelorMittal (MT) Friday said second-quarter net income attributable to equityholders of the parent was $52 million or $0.03 per basic share, compared to a loss of $780 million or $0.44 per basic share last year.

Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization or EBITDA was $1.763 billion, compared to $1.700 billion last year.

Sales for the quarter grew to $20.704 billion from $20.197 billion in the prior year.

Steel shipments were 21.5 million metric tons, up from 20.9 million metroc tons last year.

Lakshmi Mittal, ArcelorMittal Chairman and CEO, said:, "The second quarter and first half results reflect the anticipated improvement in steel shipments and margins,supporting an underlying EBITDA improvement compared with last year.''

Looking ahead, the firm said its previously announced 2014 guidance framework remains valid. The iron ore price has, however, been lower than expected and this underlying assumption has been adjusted to $105/t for the full year 2014 from $120/t previously, implying a second-half average of $100/t. All other components of the framework remain unchanged.

As a result, the company now expects 2014 EBITDA in excess of $7.0 billion. This assumes steel shipments increase by approximately 3 percent from last year.

In May, the company projected EBITDA to be around $8.0 billion for 2014, assuming Steel shipments growth of nearly 3 percent in 2014.

The company today maintained its medium term net debt target of $15 billion.