OREANDA-NEWS. EVRAZ plc (LSE: EVR) announced its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2017 .

HIGHLIGHTS

Strong free cash flow of US$549 million (H1 2016: US$102 million).

Continued reduction in net debt: US$4.3 billion (FY2016: US$4.8 billion).

Cost saving of US$63 million due to ongoing productivity improvements and cost-cutting initiatives.

Consolidated EBITDA of $1,152 million, up 99.7% from $577 million in H1 2016, driving the EBITDA margin from 16.3% to 22.6% due to higher coal and steel products prices, accompanied by the effects of cost-cutting initiatives.

Net profit of US$86 million vs. US$7 million in H1 2016.

Cash-cost of steel and raw materials in Russia increased mostly as a result of rouble appreciation:

cash cost of slabs increased to US$254/t from US$183/t in FY2016;

cash cost of washed coking coal increased to US$42/t from US$30/t in FY2016;

cash cost of iron ore products (58% Fe content) increased to US$32/t from US$26 in FY2016.

An interim dividend of US$429.6 million (US$0.30 per share) has been declared, reflecting the Board’s confidence in the Group’s financial position and outlook.

"Coal and steel prices remained strong during the reporting period and account for much of the improvements in the results. However, there were other contributors, our disciplined cost-cutting program and our customer focus initiatives which together generated additional US$111 million of EBITDA", EVRAZ’ Chief Executive Officer, Alexander Frolov commented.