The world's leading steelmaker has published its results for the 2024 financial year, reporting adjusted net profit of $1.3bn on adjusted net income of $2.3bn. Its operating profit reached $3.31bn, up from $2.34 billion . On the other hand, Ebitda, a measure of profitability, was down on last year, at $7.1bn compared with $8.74bn in 2023. Operating profit rose by 41.4%, with ArcelorMittal pointing to "impairment charges of $116m and exceptional items of $216m, including restructuring costs related to asset optimisation".
These results are close to financial analysts’ consensus, which forecast a net profit of $2.04bn and an Ebitda of $6.23bn, and showed, the company said, ArcelorMittal's resilience despite difficult market conditions. The Ebitda reflects, according to ArcelorMittal, "structural improvements and the benefits of regional and sector diversification".
CEO Aditya Mittal stated in the announcement: “Last year was challenging from a global economic perspective, but, despite this Ebitda per tonne at $130 is considerably higher than the five- year-average pre-covid. It is testament to the core strength of the company that we are generating free cash flow, investing for growth and returning cash to shareholders in these markets.” For the year as a whole, shipments fell slightly to 54.3 million tonnes, compared with 55.6 million tonnes the previous year.
The company generated $4.9bn in operating cash flow in 2024, spending $1.3bn on strategic growth projects and redistributing $1.7bn to shareholders. A dividend increase to $0.55/share is proposed for 2025. The total cash yield is 8.4%.
Sales for 2024 fell by 8.5% to $62.4bn, compared with $68.3bn in 2023. The company stated that this was “primarily due to 7.6% lower average steel selling prices and a 2.4% decline in steel shipments. On a scope adjusted basis (i.e. excluding ArcelorMittal Pecem which was consolidated on 9 March 2023 and Kazakhstan operations that were sold on 7 December 2023), [full year] 2024 steel shipments were 1.7% higher as compared to [full year] 2023.”
“It is testament to the core strength of the company that we are generating free cash flow, investing for growth and returning cash to shareholders in these markets,” Mittal said.
Optimistic outlook for 2025
The outlook for 2025 is rather optimistic. Arcelor forecasts a rise in global steel consumption (excluding China) of between 2.5% and 3.5%, the steelmaker said in its press release. Its capital expenditure for 2025 is estimated at between $4.5bn and $5bn, including $1.4bn to $1.5bn for growth projects and $0.3bn to $0.4bn for decarbonisation.
Mittal stated: “The long-term outlook for the steel industry is positive and our global presence means we have a unique opportunity to prioritise investment in markets where there is a strong outlook for growth and returns. We are particularly focused on Brazil, India, and the US, where we are enhancing our ability to meet automotive demand through a new high quality electric arc furnace at AM/NS Calvert and a new electric steel facility announced today.”
Mittal mentioned a major challenge for 2025: to remedy the global overcapacity situation affecting the steel industry. “Looking to the year ahead, while inventory levels are low and apparent demand is expected to improve, our industry continues to be characterised by global overcapacity and we are supportive of policy to address this in our markets. Further action is particularly necessary in Europe, which was impacted by increased imports in 2024, further adding to the pressures on European manufacturing. It is critical that we see progress in 2025 both in providing necessary emergency relief and creating a policy environment that incentivises the investment required to accelerate decarbonisation in Europe.”
Read the original French-language version of this news report /