===ArcelorMittal (MT) reported earnings on Fri 10 Feb 2017 (b/o)

• First profit in 5 years

ArcelorMittal beats by $0.11, misses on revs:

• Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.13 per share, $0.11 better than the single analyst estimate of $0.02; revenues rose 1.0% year/year to $14.13 bln vs the $14.67 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Q4 Production
  • Crude steel production (Mt): 21.8 (+1% YoY)
  • Steel shipments (Mt): 20.0 (+1.5%)
  • Own iron ore production (Mt): 13.9 (-10.3%)
• Outlook:
  • ArcelorMittal expects the pick-up in underlying demand to continue, supported by the strength of the automotive end market, but apparent demand is expected to be modest at +0.5% to +1.5% in 2017 (versus growth of +1.5% to +2.0% in 2016).
    • In Brazil, following the significant decline in ASC in 2016 (-13.0% to -13.5%) ASC is expected to grow by +3.0% to +4.0% in 2017 as the economy mildly recovers as consumer confidence returns.
    • In the CIS, following an ASC decline of -3.5% to -4.0% in 2016, the region should stabilize in 2017 with ASC similar to 2016 levels (-0.5% to +0.5%).
    • In China, following ASC growth of +1.0% to +1.5% in 2016, demand is expected to stabilise in 2017 (decline of around 0% to -1.0%) as the ongoing weakness in the real estate sector is expected to be offset in part by robust infrastructure and automotive end markets.
  • Capex spend in 2017 is expected to increase to $2.9 billion (from $2.4 billion in 2016) as the Group seeks to capitalise on opportunities to grow value and returns. In addition, interest expense is expected to decline to $0.9 billion (as compared to $1.1 billion in FY 2016); while cash taxes and contributions to fund pensions are expected to increase by a total of $0.2 billion. As a result, the Company expects the cash needs of the business in 2017 to increase to $5.0 billion (from $4.5 billion in 2016).