OREANDA-NEWS.  May 17, 2013. ArcelorMittal (referred to as “ArcelorMittal” or the “Company”) (MT (New York, Amsterdam, Paris, Luxembourg), MTS (Madrid)), the world’s leading integrated steel and mining company, today announced results for the three month period ended March 31, 2013.

On January 1, 2013, in accordance with IFRS as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”), ArcelorMittal mandatorily adopted IFRS 10 (“Consolidated Financial Statements”), IFRS 11 (“Joint Arrangements”), IFRS 12 (“Disclosure of Interests in Other Entities”), IFRS 13 (“Fair Value Measurement”), the revision of IAS 19 (“Employee Benefits”) and IFRIC 20 (“Stripping Costs in the Production Phase of a Surface Mine”). 2012 information has been adjusted retrospectively for the adoption of these new standards and interpretations except for IFRS 13 which is applied only prospectively.

Highlights:
Health and safety performance improved in 1Q 2013 with a LTIF rate of 0.9x as compared to 1.1x at 4Q 2012

EBITDA of USD 1.6 billion in 1Q 2013 as compared to USD 1.6 billion in 4Q 2012 (which included USD 0.5 billion of gains from asset disposal and CO2 credit sales)
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Steel shipments of 20.9 Mt, an increase of 4.7% as compared to 4Q 2012

13.1 Mt own iron ore production; 7.3 Mt shipped and reported at market prices vs. 6.8 Mt in 1Q 2012

Net debt decreased by USD 3.8 billion during 1Q 2013 to USD 18.0 billion as of March 31, 2013 due largely to proceeds from combined offering (USD 4 billion) and proceeds from the first tranche of AMMC 15% stake sale (USD 0.8 billion), partially offset by working capital investment (USD 0.5 billion)

Liquidity improved to USD 18 billion from USD 14.5 billion at end 4Q 2012; average debt maturity of 6.0 years

USD 0.2 billion New Management Gains achieved during 1Q 2013, from implementation of the new plan to achieve USD 3 billion of improvement by the end of 2015

Outlook and guidance:
The Company reiterates its guidance framework for 2013: Assuming that in 2013 iron ore prices and the margin of steel prices over raw material costs are similar to the levels of 2012, the Company expects to report EBITDA above USD 7.1 billion

The anticipated improvement in underlying profitability in 2013 is expected to be driven by three factors: a) a 2% increase in steel shipments; b) an approximate 20% increase in marketable iron ore shipments; and c) the realized benefits from Asset Optimization and Management Gains initiatives

EBITDA in 2Q 2013 is expected to be above 1Q 2013 levels. Together with an anticipated release of working capital and receipt of previously announced disposal proceeds, this should support a further reduction in net debt to approximately USD 17 billion by end June 2013

2013 capital expenditures are expected to be approximately USD 3.5 billion