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Shares in SA's biggest steelmaker Arcelor Mittal crashed by 43% on Tuesday afternoon, wiping out about R1.7 billion in shareholder value. This was after it announced it had swung into an interim loss after underestimating the economic effects of unprecedented load shedding on its customers.
The group said in a trading update it expects headline earnings per share to fall as much as 117% in its year to end June, implying a loss of as much as about R515 million for a company now valued at about R2.3 billion on the JSE.
The group said the "softness of the market amidst the unprecedented severity of the electricity load shedding in the last six months, was very much underestimated, which in turn affected the response time with which production could be adjusted in a responsible and well-considered manner".
"Building and maintaining any semblance of operating rhythm, which is an absolute necessity in running a continuous, integrated steel making process in a cost-aware manner, proved especially problematic," it added.
The company, which dates back to 1928 and accounts for more than half of SA's crude steel production, had reported that load shedding, rail dysfunction, and strikes shaved off R2.3 billion in earnings in its year to end-December, but had been optimistic that conditions were improving.
READ | Steel giant ArcelorMittal pushes plans for its own energy, rail access after R2.3bn earnings hit
Unsustainable price-cost pressures and positive movements in early 2023’s international steel prices, offered reasons for some optimism, it said on Tuesday, however, "locally the trading environment caught no such tailwinds".
High inflation, load shedding, rising interest rates and a contraction in key steel consuming sectors such as manufacturing, autos as well as mining and construction affected already fragile consumer confidence, the group said in its update.
Furthermore, the anticipated release of working capital proved to be much more difficult, resulting in the net borrowings position remaining at elevated levels, it added.
ArcelorMittal, which had net debt of about R2.8 billion at the end of December, had also announced on Monday that CFO Siphamandla Mthethwa had resigned for personal reasons after just over two weeks in the job.
"Remedial actions are under way to improve the company’s net borrowing position in the wake of the weaker-for-longer steel trading environment in the region," the group said on Tuesday.
Shares in ArcelorMittal SA crashed almost 43% to levels last seen in early 2021 on Tuesday, and they have now just over halved so far in 2023. Click here for details of its shares as well as other info.
