Following the announcement, the steel maker's share price jumped five percent.
This week, steel maker ArcelorMittal announced that its headline loss per share would fall as much as 106 percent for the six months to end June, resulting in the share price rising by five percent.
According to Bloomberg, a headline profit per share of between 1c and 9c was expected from the period, or a 101 to 106 percent change from the headline loss of 203c in the prior period. The company’s loss per share was expected to decrease to a range of 142c to 152c, or a 25 to 30 percent change.
This was largely due to a reclassification of the company’s equity accounted investment in Macsteel, an asset the group is holding for sale, Bloomberg reported. ArcelorMittal said previously that it planned to sell its 50 percent stake in the Netherlands-based Macsteel for as much as R2.8 billion. However, the group took strain as the dollar strengthened but local demand weakened, while cheap imports into South Africa continued.
Pictured: ArcelorMittal CEO, Kobus Verster
