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 ArcelorMittal's share price has dropped 60 percent in the past 12
months, cutting the group's market value to just 6.2 billion euros
($6.94 billion).
The shares were down a further 6.5 percent on Friday, making them by
far the worst performer in the European FTSEurofirst300 <.FTEU3>
index.
The company, twice the size of its nearest rival, reported that its
core profit (EBITDA) dropped by 32 percent last year to $5.2 billion
and warned the result this year would only be "in excess of" $4.5
billion as it sees little improvement in overall global demand for
steel this year.
Chief Executive Lakshmi Mittal said that 2015 had been very
difficult for steelmakers and miners, even with some rises in demand
in Europe and the United States where the company does the bulk of
its business, due to Chinese exports depressing prices.
Analysts said reducing the company's debt level was necessary as its
debt is rated below investment grade, making it more expensive to
maintain.
"It was needed as the balance sheet was becoming stretched,"
analysts at ABN Amro wrote in a note to clients, adding that the
group's bonds were yielding some 12 percent.
Steel prices have slid to 12-year lows and global producers appear
set for another year of pain even as prices start to stabilize due
to production cuts.
China, which makes half the world's steel, exported a record 112
million tonnes of steel last year, equivalent to total North
American output, upsetting trade partners who argue it is dumping on
world markets.
It was revealed on Friday that the EU's top trade official has
called on her Chinese counterpart to take measures to curb the
overcapacity in China's steel industry and warned it would open
three new anti-dumping investigations this month on steel imports
from China.
EU ministers met last year to discuss Chinese overcapacity and the
threat to EU industry, following an urgent request from Britain
where most of recent sector job cuts have taken place.
On Thursday India's Tata Steel Ltd reported heavy losses in the last
three months of 2015, blaming Chinese imports for having to ax 3,000
jobs at its UK arm, Britain's largest steelmaker.
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RAISING MORE CASH
ArcelorMittal also said on Friday it was selling for 875 million
euros ($980 million) its 35 percent stake in Spanish automotive
steel specialist Gestamp Automacion to the majority shareholders,
the Riberas family, ending a joint venture formed in 1998.
"This capital raise, combined with the sale of our minority
shareholding in Gestamp, will accelerate the company's debt
reduction plans and enable us to reduce net debt to less than $12
billion," Lakshmi Mittal said.
Net debt was $15.7 billion at the end of 2015.
The company, formed from the 2006 acquisition of Arcelor by Mittal
Steel, has steadily pulled down debt from a Sept 2008 peak of $32.5
billion, but progress has slowed in the past couple of years, with
core profit less than a quarter of its 2008 high.
The Mittal family, which owns 37.4 percent of the company, has
committed to taking up all their rights in the new issue,
subscribing for shares worth some $1.1 billion.
ArcelorMittal also said on Friday it was launching a new five-year
Action 2020 plan, designed to improve each of its five business
segments and to return core profit (EBITDA) per ton to above $85. It
fell to $62 last year.
The group, which makes about 6 percent of the world's steel, said
apparent steel consumption in 2016 would be flat to slightly higher,
as stronger demand in the United States and Europe would be outdone
by declines in China, Brazil and former Soviet states.
(Editing by Greg Mahlich)
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