At Russian steelmaker Severstal’s annual meeting with its investors on implementation of its strategy, company general director Vadim Larin noted that, despite the 10 percent decline in steel consumption in Russia in the current year and the negative impact of trade restrictions imposed on the major Russian steel customer markets, Severstal showed a better EBITDA margin in the first nine months this year compared with 2013 and 2014, due to internal operational improvements and initiatives to reduce costs.
According to Mr. Larin, the company’s priorities are preservation of profitability at a high level, the controlling of costs and capital expenditures and the implementation of initiatives in the field of customer orientation. In addition, he said the company's investments in the next few years will not exceed $700 million in a year.
In the first nine months of the current year, Severstal’s EBITDA margin came to 33.9 percent thanks to increased free cash flow, which amounted to $1.247 billion in the same period, as announced at the annual meeting.