OREANDA-NEWS. Severstal's net profit under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) rose 61.21 percent to over RUR22.037bln (approx. USD861m) in the first half of 2007 year-on-year, the Russian steel producer reported.

In Q2, net profit reached RUR12.693bn (approx. USD496m), in Q1 RUR9.344bn (approx. USD365m).

Severstal attributes the 35.84 percent increase in its Q2 net profit from a quarter earlier to a higher sales margin.