News: BSL UPDATE 1-Australia's BlueScope Steel shares slip after profit warning on softer spreads

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Feb 20 (Reuters) - Australia's BlueScope Steel Ltd (BSL) warned on Monday its second-half underlying earnings before interest and tax could nearly halve sequentially due to softer steel spreads across Asia and the Midwest, sending its shares more than 13% lower.

The country's largest steel producer now sees underlying EBIT in the range of A$480 million and A$550 million ($329.52 million - $377.58 million) for the second half, lower than its prior half and missing a market consensus of A$620 million.

Steel prices retreated from a record high last year due to relatively weak macro conditions amid strict COVID restrictions in top consumer China, impacting demand and prices for the raw material.

Shares of BlueScope Steel tumbled as much as 13.1% to hit the bottom of the benchmark stock index, while the broader market (xjo) was down about 0.1%, as of 0010 GMT.

The company reported a 61% drop in first-half underlying net profit after tax as customers cut inventories because of lower prices for its signature product steel, while weather and labour constraints also weighed.

Underlying net profit after tax for the six months ended December fell to A$614.4 million from A$1,573.4 million a year ago.

However, BlueScope Steel said it would extend its buyback programme to allow the remaining capacity of up to A$380 million to be bought over the next 12 months. ($1 = 1.4567 Australian dollars)