BlueScope Steel Ltd., Australia's largest steelmaker, said first-half profit increased more than threefold because of higher sales and after taking charges in the period a year earlier, Bloomberg reported.
Net income was A$407 million ($263 million), or 52.6 cents a share, for the six months ended Dec. 31, compared with A$116 million, or 15.6 cents, a year ago, the Melbourne-based company said today in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.
Underlying profit in the first quarter rose 40 percent because of higher prices and sales as well as acquisitions. The global financial crisis forced steelmakers to cut output in the second quarter as demand softened. BlueScope may have a loss this half, it said today.
"Coming into the second quarter, export sales from Australia slowed materially due to the worsening economic and financial conditions in the developed world," Managing Director Paul O'Malley said in the statement. "Should these market conditions continue we expect to see a negative net profit after tax contribution in the second half."
BlueScope cut its interim dividend by 77 percent to 5 cents a share because of the expected loss, it said.
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