Metinvest increased revenue by 70% in the first half of the year as a result of high steel prices
Dutch mining and metals holding Metinvest B.V (Metinvest), today announced unaudited consolidated interim financial results of operations under IFRS for the six months ended June 30, 2021.
Against the backdrop of the global economic recovery and rising commodity prices in the first half of 2021, Metinvest's consolidated revenue grew by 70% year-on-year to $ 8.47 billion. Profit before tax EBITDA grew 4.3 times to $ 3.79 billion.
As of June 30, 2021, Metinvest's net debt has decreased by 52% since the beginning of the year - to $ 1.016 billion, and the ratio of net debt to EBITDA over the past 12 months has decreased by 0.8x - to 0.2x.
Against the background of an increase in production at two Mariupol plants, Azovstal and MMK im. Ilyich, the production of pig iron increased by 8% compared to the same period last year - up to 4,405 thousand tons, and steel - by 10%, up to 4,358 thousand tons.
Commenting on the results, Yuri Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest, noted that operational improvement initiatives had an impact of $ 368 million in the reporting period.
“This became possible thanks to the efforts of our team and various events, including the use of the most advanced technologies. So, we use artificial intelligence to control the heat balance in blast furnaces. To automate our iron ore assets, we have developed the Digital GOK program, which is valid until 2025 and includes optimizing business processes, as well as reducing production costs, "Ryzhenkov said.
As reported, in March this year, Metinvest gained control over the Pokrovskaya Coal Group, the largest producer of high-quality coking coal in Ukraine, as a result of the exercise of a buy option. The Pokrovsk coal group includes several enterprises. As of June 30, 2021, the Group's effective interest in the main acquired businesses was 99.22% in the Pokrovskoye mine management and 99.57% in the Svyato-Varvara concentrator.
In August 2021, after the end of the reporting period, Metinvest acquired assets related to the integral property complex of the Dnieper Metallurgical Plant (DMK) in Kamenskoye, Ukraine, for approximately $ 340 million. The production capacity of DMK is 3.2 million tons of steel per year.