ArcelorMittal Posts $2.63 Billion Loss on Steel Slump
Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, posted a fourth-quarter loss after prices slumped and the worldwide economic downturn curbed demand for the metal.
Its net loss was $2.63 billion, or $1.93 a share, from a profit of $2.44 billion, or $1.71, a year earlier, the Luxembourg-based company said today in an e-mailed statement. Sales slid 21 percent to $22.1 billion.
Plunging demand is spurring steelmakers around the world to reduce production and payrolls. ArcelorMittal said in November it aimed to cut output by more than 30 percent and eliminate as many as 9,000 jobs. Nippon Steel Co., Asia’s biggest producer of the metal, said last month it probably would lower output twice as much as predicted in November.
The steelmaker counts automakers and construction companies, both of which have been hit by the global downturn, among its customers. Chief Executive Officer Lakshmi Mittal, 58, formed the company in 2006 when his Mittal Steel Co. bought Arcelor SA for $38.3 billion.
ArcelorMittal declined 2.145 euros, or 9.7 percent, to 19.95 euros in Amsterdam trading yesterday. The stock has gained 17 percent this year, boosting the company’s market value to 28.9 billion euros ($37.3 billion) The CEO owns about 43 percent of the shares.
Auto sales were the weakest since 1981 in the U.S. last month and also slowed across Europe, Russia and China.
BLOOMBERG
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