Usiminas, the Brazilian steelmaker grappling with a soaring debt burden, posted a larger-than-expected fourth-quarter loss as the shutdown of a mill and stagnant sales drove management to aggressively cut the value of some assets.
Belo Horizonte, Brazil-based Usiminas trimmed the value of mining, steel and other assets by 1.6 billion reais ($402 million) last quarter to account for the closure of the Cubatão mill, worker dismissals and discontinued projects, according to a statement on Thursday.
The charges, which have no cash impact, followed a smaller impairment in the third quarter.
The company lost a net 1.626 billion reais ($408 million) in the fourth quarter, well above the average estimate of 464 million reais loss in a Reuters poll of analysts. In the third quarter, it posted a shortfall of 1.042 billion reais.
Usiminas non-voting shares, the company's most traded, tumbled 5 percent after the release of the quarterly results statement, which made no mention any plans to revamp operations, reverse large operational losses or refinance debt due this year.
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