Evraz has announced interim dividend for 2019 of US$508.17m (US$0.35 per share) has been declared, reflecting the Board's confidence in the Group's financial position and outlook.
Other financial highlights include:
• Free cash flow generation remained strong at US$692m (H1 2018: US$661m).
• Consolidated EBITDA totalled US$1,482m, down 22.2% from US$1,906m in H1 2018, driving the EBITDA margin down to 24.1% from 30.0% due to lower vanadium, coal and steel product prices.
• EBITDA effect from cost-cutting and customer focus initiatives amounted to US$150m.
• Total debt dropped by US$112m to US$4,526m (FY2018: US$4,638m), while net debt increased by US$79m to US$3,650m (FY2018: US$3,571m) due to the recognition under the new IFRS 16 Leases standard on the balance sheet of operating leases that were not recognised as a liability under the previous standard.
• Net profit was US$344m, compared with US$1,145m in H1 2018.
• The cash cost of steel and raw materials in Russia was mostly lower:
o The cash cost of slabs decreased to US$230/t from US$248/t in H1 2018
o The cash cost of washed coking coal fell to US$34/t from US$47/t in H1 2018
o The cash cost of iron ore products was nearly flat at US$38/t (H1 2018: US$37/t)
• In Q2 2019 the US lifted the 25% Section 232 tariffs on steel imports from Canada and Canada removed its retaliatory tariffs. The US anti-dumping duty for imports of line pipe (16" or greater) produced in Canada was reduced from 24% to 12%.
• In H1 2019, EVRAZ' consolidated revenues declined by 3.2% to US$6,140m, compared with US$6,343m in H1 2018, primarily due to lower sales prices for semi-finished, construction and coal products, as well as reduced prices and volumes for vanadium products.
