Metinvest EBITDA slides 1% m/m in February

EBITDA at Ukraine’s largest steelmaker Metinvest
(METINV) declined 0.8% m/m in February to USD 125 mln, according to its monthly
results published on Apr. 26. The holding’s revenue gained 3.6% m/m to USD 932
mln. Metinvest’s operating cash flow before working capital changes rose 3.4%
m/m to USD 120 mln, whereas cash flow from operations (before profit tax and
interest) jumped 95% m/m to USD 220 mln in February.

The holding’s cash outflow from investment activities
rose 7.8% m/m to USD 97 mln, while outflow from financing activities amounted
to USD 18 mln and its end-of-month cash balance rose 24.7% m/m to USD 278 mln.
The holding’s gross debt dropped USD 40 mln m/m to USD 2,683 mln.

Metinvest’s metallurgical segment EBITDA plunged 78%
m/m to USD 4 mln in February, while its mining segment EBITDA gained 20.2% m/m
to USD 119 mln.

Product prices continued demonstrating weakness m/m,
falling 4% for pig iron, 8% for slabs, 7% for billets, 6% for flat products and
3% for long products.

Dmytro Khoroshun: The
holding’s metallurgical segment EBITDA continued to disappoint in February,
even considering the decline to the USD 40-60 mln range we anticipated already in December
because of the 2H18 plunge in steel prices. However, we expect the
profitability of Metinvest’s metallurgical segment to improve in 2Q19 on the
back of February’s steel price rebound.