© Reuters
SÃO PAULO (Reuters) – Usiminas (BVMF:) announced this Friday a loss for the fourth quarter, reversing the positive results obtained a year earlier and in the immediately previous three months, with declines in steel sales and the recognition of an impairment of 1. 7 billion reais related to the value of its assets.
The company, which is preparing to start a major overhaul of the largest blast furnace at its plant in Ipatinga (MG), had a net loss of 839 million reais in the fourth quarter, reversing a profit of 2.49 billion obtained a year earlier. Steel sales fell 9% and iron ore fell 8%.
As a result, net revenue decreased by 5% in the annual comparison, to 7.66 billion reais.
The company said it expects investment of 3.2 billion reais in 2023, up 46.5% over 2022, driven by billionaire costs with the renovation of equipment in Ipatinga. The company has already been building stocks of steel slabs purchased from third parties for some months to deal with the blast furnace shutdown of several months for rebuilding.
Cash generation measured by Usiminas’ adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the fourth quarter was 579 million reais, down 76% over the performance of a year earlier. The margin increased from 31% to 8% in the period.
Analysts expected Ebitda of 481.5 million reais for Usiminas in the period, with revenue of 7.33 billion, according to data from Refinitiv. The expectation for the final line of the balance sheet was a loss of 22.8 million reais.