ArcelorMittal : 3Q Profit Buoyed By Favorable Market

   By Nathan Allen 
 

ArcelorMittal (MT.AE) said on Friday that net profit rose sharply in the third quarter, due in part to favorable market conditions.

Net profit at the Netherlands-listed steelmaker rose to $1.21 billion, almost doubling the year-earlier result of $680 million and comfortably exceeding an analyst consensus from FactSet of $770 million.

Sales climbed more than 21% to $17.08 billion from $14.52 billion a year earlier.

Steel shipments were up 6.9% at 21.7 million metric tons, the company said, while iron ore shipments increased 8.1% to 15 million metric tons.

The company also said it booked a foreign exchange gain of $132 million, compared with a $223 million loss a year earlier. Income tax expenses dropped $75 million on the year.

Chief Executive Lakshmi Mittal said he saw a positive outlook for 2018 but warned of global overcapacity in the sector.

ArcelorMittal also said it would cooperate fully with a recently announced European Commission antitrust investigation into its proposed takeover of Ilva's Italian steelworks.

Write to Nathan Allen at [email protected]