profit down 38%

Will she drop or go up? Could be above expectations.


Bluescope 1H profit tumbles 38% to $312m
20/02/2006 By: Adam Waterworth

BlueScope Steel Limited (BSL) today announced a net profit after tax (“NPAT”) of $312 million for the half-year ended 31 December 2005, down 38% on the previous the corresponding period (“pcp”) result.



Managing director and CEO Mr Kirby Adams said the company’s first half result was subject to lower steel pricing, high raw material and feed costs and a more competitive market environment.

“The company’s revenue at $3.9 billion was in line with the previous comparative period,” he noted.

He went on to explain that the company expected the second half to be adversely affected by lower prices and the full effect of higher iron ore costs.

“A number of initiatives [have been] taken to improve product mix and sales volumes, reduce costs, increase focus on capital spend and deliver on the current growth projects,” he said.

He noted that the company expected the full FY2006 after tax earnings guidance to be in the range of $0.65 - $0.75 EPS (on an AIFRS basis).

The company said that its hot strip mill, Western Port, was now back into full operation in November following a 12-week outage due to the fire.

“In the Australian market, we have moved promptly to improve our market offer to customers to enable them to compete more aggressively against imports,” said Mr Adams.

He said that their Asian growth initiatives were progressing very well, with the Thailand metal coating expansion and the Vietnam coating facilities both due to commence operations during the half.

The company said that it had increased interim ordinary dividend by 11% to 20c per share.

At close on Friday, shares in Bluescope Steel were 10c higher at $6.33.