CSC scored all-time high earnings record in Q1

Taipei, April 26, 2005 (CENS)--China Steel Corporation (CSC), Taiwan's largest steelmaker, posted NT$20.572 billion (US$651 million at US$1:NT$31.6) in pretax earnings in the first quarter of this year, up 63% year-on-year and hitting an all-time quarterly high of its kind.

Based on present capitalization, CSC registered NT$2.07 (US$0.06) in pretax earnings per share (EPS) for the first quarter. The company has decided to convene a general shareholders meeting on June 14 to discuss the distribution of 2004's dividends.

The company said it posted NT$7.799 billion (US$246.8 million) in pretax earnings in March alone, a new monthly record. Of the earnings, NT$6.622 billion (US$209.55 million) came from core-business operations and the remaining NT$1.157 billion (US$36.61 million) from investments in subsidiaries.

With the soaring steel prices, CSC is expected to see growth in profits in the second quarter of this year, but the firm is plagued by the increased production costs because of the price hikes in such raw materials as coal and iron.

Some foresee that CSC might see earnings drop in the second half of this year because of the slide of steel prices in the markets of Europe, the U.S. and mainland China.

CSC noted it sold 921,100 metric tons of steel products in March, representing an increase of 180,000 metric tons from February's 741,000 metric tons. The company exported 74% of overall output in March.

CSC's sales volume hit an all-time high of 1.02 million metric tons of steel products in May 2002. But the company didn't make outstanding profits because of the doldrums of steel price at that time.

Thanks to the booming development of the global steel industry, CSC posted NT$168.27 billon (US$5.3 billion) and NT$65.07 billion (US$2.05 billion) in sales and earnings, respectively, both all-time highs, last year.