SYDNEY--BlueScope
Steel Ltd. raised its earnings guidance, citing improved profit expectations
for its North Star mill and North America coated business.
BlueScope said it
now expects underlying earnings before interest and tax of between 1.375
billion Australian dollars (US$970 million) and A$1.475 billion in the six
months through June, representing the second half of its 2022 fiscal year. That
is higher than a prior projection of A$1.20 billion-A$1.35 billion for the
period.
BlueScope said its
U.S. businesses had benefited from better-than-expected realized steel prices
and spreads in the country.
"Expectations
for BlueScope's other businesses remain broadly consistent with outlook
comments provided in February," BlueScope said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.
The company said
domestic despatch levels within its Australian Steel Products business have
been softer than expected due to supply chain disruptions, including recent
floods along the east coast and rail outages. "This has been offset by
stronger realized steel spreads combined with better than expected
contributions from the downstream businesses," BlueScope said.
"With the
ongoing strength in raw material prices combined with continued supply chain
disruptions, BlueScope expects net working capital employed to remain elevated
during the current half," the company added.
Write to David
Winning at david.winning@wsj.com
Corrections &
Amplifications
This item was
corrected at 6:39 p.m. ET to show that BlueScope raised its 2H profit guidance,
not 1H.