Thursday, May 03, 2007

Stelco's struggles continue

Despite rising steel prices and many steelmakers posting increasing profits, Stelco the Canadian Steelmaker continues to struggle. Speculation continues about them being a possible takeover target. Following is an extract from an article in the Toronto Star where the Stelco chief Rodney Mott talks about the current situation.

 

Stelco Inc. chief Rodney Mott says he doesn't know yet when the struggling steel maker will start posting a net profit despite further cost cutting at its struggling Hamilton operations.

Stelco has lost money for four consecutive quarters since emerging from court protection and a major restructuring, but the normally bullish Mott said yesterday he would not predict when the red ink would end.

"I really don't want to speculate on that," Mott, Stelco's chief executive officer, said yesterday.

However, Mott said earlier moves to curb costs and improve productivity plus stronger markets should result in better results in the second quarter.

Earlier this week, Stelco reported that it had reduced its net loss in the first three months ending March 31 to $39 million from $122 million including reorganization costs in the same period last year. Sales in the quarter slipped to $596 million from $674 million in the same 2006 period.

Full article at the Toronto Star here

 

Technorati tags: ,

No comments: