United States Steel Corporation (X) saw its loss narrow to $105 million, or $0.61 a share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. In the previous year period, the company reported a loss of $1,133 million, or $7.74 a share. On an adjusted basis, net profit for the quarter stood at $47 million, or $0.27 a share compared with a net loss of $33 million, or $0.23 a share in the last year period. Revenue during the quarter grew 3.03 percent to $2,650 million from $2,572 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter period stood at positive 8.30 percent as compared to a negative 2.22 percent for the previous year period. Operating margin for the quarter stood at negative 2.42 percent as compared to a negative 17.61 percent for the previous year period.
Operating loss for the quarter was $64 million, compared with an operating loss of $453 million in the previous year period.
However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $211 million compared to negative $13 million in the prior year second quarter. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin stood at 7.96 percent for the quarter compared to negative 0.51 percent in the last year period.
Commenting on results, U. S. Steel President and Chief Executive Officer Mario Longhi said, "We entered 2016 facing very challenging market conditions, but remained focused on our Carnegie Way transformation efforts. Despite lower average realized prices and shipments in 2016, our results are better as we continued to improve our product mix and cost structure. Our focus on cash, including better working capital management and opportunistic capital markets transactions, resulted in an improved debt maturity profile and stronger cash and liquidity. We are well positioned to accelerate the revitalization of our assets to improve our operating reliability and efficiency, and deliver value-enhancing solutions to our customers."
For the fiscal year 2017, United States Steel Corporation expects adjusted net income to be $535 million. For fiscal year 2017, the company expects diluted earnings per share to be $3.08.
Operating cash flow improves significantly
United States Steel Corporation has generated cash of $727 million from operating activities during the year, up 102.51 percent or $368 million, when compared with the last year. The company has spent $318 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $510 million in the last year. It has incurred net capital expenditure of $294 million on net basis during the year, down 40.73 percent or $202 million from year ago.
Cash flow from financing activities was $359 million for the year as against cash outgo of $407 million in the last year period.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $1,515 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 100.66 percent or $760 million from $755 million on Dec. 31, 2015.
Working capital increases
United States Steel Corporation has recorded an increase in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $2,025 million as at Dec. 31, 2016, up 14.47 percent or $256 million from $1,769 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Current ratio was at 1.87 as on Dec. 31, 2016, up from 1.82 on Dec. 31, 2015.
Cash conversion cycle (CCC) has decreased to 20 days for the quarter from 29 days for the last year period. Days sales outstanding went up to 22 days for the quarter compared with 19 days for the same period last year.
Days inventory outstanding has decreased to 30 days for the quarter compared with 36 days for the previous year period. At the same time, days payable outstanding went up to 32 days for the quarter from 26 for the same period last year.
Debt comes down marginally United States Steel Corporation has recorded a decline in total debt over the last
one year. It stood at $3,031 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, down 3.41 percent or $107 million from $3,138 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Total debt was 33.09 percent of total assets as on Dec. 31, 2016, compared with 34.15 percent on Dec. 31, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was at 1.33 as on Dec. 31, 2016, up from 1.29 as on Dec. 31, 2015. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: [email protected]
