Profits narrow but revenues grow at steel manufacturing firm

Stainless steel manufacturer Outokumpu has reported a dip in profits in a year it has focused on costs and productivity.

The Sheffield-based company firm today published its annual results ending 31 December 2017. While turnover increased to £541.5m from £398.7m in the previous year, pre-tax profits dipped to £11.8m from £13.1m.

EBITDA at the company, which trades across Europe, more than doubled from €309m to €631m. Its company accounts state: “While the positive development of ferrochrome pricing during the first half of the year supported these numbers, the bulk if the improvement can be attributed to our relentless focus on costs and productivity, during sustainable value creation.”

The firm said it managed competition from overseas by continuously developing products, processes and the business’ cost base.

Within the year, Outokumpu focused on six areas: safety, world-class supply chain, high performance, manufacturing excellence, commercial excellence and concentration on the Americas.

Research suggests that global demand for stainless steel products reached 41.2m tonnes in 2017, an increase of 5.5% from 38.5m in 2016.

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