Severstal 9M net profit doubles

According to unaudited data, Severstal's net profit under IFRS grew 2.1 times to $3.24bln in the first nine months of 2008 compared with the same period of the previous year, the Russian steel producer said in a statement today. Similarly, revenue climbed 60.6 percent to $18.152, gross profit jumped 59.6 percent to $5.77bln, operating profit surged 1.8 times to $4.179bln, and EBITDA rose 69.4 percent to $4.981bln. As of September 30, long-term and short-term liabilities stood at $7.081bln and $5.858bln, respectively.

      The company expects EBITDA to reach between $5.1bln and $5.3bln in 2008. The figure was originally projected to amount to $5.8bln-$6.1bln, but deteriorated market conditions and the financial crisis made the company's management downgrade the forecast. Severstal also reduced capital expenditure by 20 percent. Furthermore, most of the $8bn sum meant for the company's investment program will not be used until market conditions improve. Severstal also announced that it was making layoffs in the entire group of companies.