Evraz first half net profit jumps 49 %

Russian steelmaker Evraz saw first half IFRS net profit soar 49 percent year-on-year to $263 million, the company said on Wednesday. Revenue rose 31 percent to $8.380 billion in the first half of the year, while adjusted EBITDA increased 41 percent to $1.629 billion, Evraz said in a statement. Operating cash flow more than doubled, reaching $1.594 billion, while net debt fell 15 percent to 6.042 billion. "Evraz has delivered a strong performance in the first half of 2011 on the back of the continuation of a measured recovery in the global steel markets," Chief Executive Alexander Frolov was quoted in a statement as saying. "The prices for steelmaking raw materials grew faster than steel prices, allowing Evraz to benefit from its high level of vertical integration." "In the current pricing environment, our mining business generates over half of the group’s EBITDA. Consequently our priority is to grow our steelmaking raw material base."