RHI Magnesita sees 'continuaton of positive trends' post-merger

Refractory materials producer RHI Magnesita, which resulted last year from a merger, posted adjusted pro-forma Ebita of 218mn euros (US$249mn) for H1, up 88.2% year-on-year.

Adjusted pro-forma revenue reached 1.51bn euros in the period, rising 24.6% compared to 1H17, the company said in a release.

"We have seen a continuation of the positive trends we saw in the second half of 2017, the benefits of our high level of vertical integration and the synergies from the merger of RHI and Magnesita in Q4 2017," CEO Stefan Borgas said.

"Whilst geopolitical challenges could impact the second half and beyond, we believe our geographically diversified production bases and broad customer profile will insulate the group to a large extent."

The company said that steel production increased a robust 4.6% year‐over‐year, most notably in Asia and Middle East/Africa.

"RHI Magnesita's deliveries for steel clients have outperformed the respective trends in North America, South America and Europe," it said in the release.

"Our businesses in India, Central America and Europe were also strong, with deliveries increasing above 10% in the period, and revenue growth of over 30%."

MERGER

Austria's RHI concluded the merger of the firm's operations with those of Brazilian rival Magnesita on October 26 last year.

The listing of RHI Magnesita's shares in the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange occurred the following day, with trading on the LSE's main market beginning the same day.

The company operates 28 mining and industrial units with refractory brick production capacity of more than 1.4Mt/y.