SSAB Report for the first quarter of 2014


The quarter

  · Sales of SEK 9,169 (8,833) million
  · Operating profit/loss of SEK 26 (-136) million
  · Loss after financial items of SEK -135 (-278) million
  · Earnings per share of SEK -0.15 (-0.42)
  · Operating cash flow of SEK -275 (85) million
Comments by the CEO

During the first quarter, we succeeded in reversing the negative earnings trend
and showed a slight operating profit, SEK 26 million. The operating profit for
the first quarter represents an improvement of more than SEK 300 million
compared with the fourth quarter of 2013. The improvement is attributable
primarily to higher prices in Americas and higher volumes in EMEA. The operating
cash flow was negative during the first quarter (SEK -275 million), which is due
to increased accounts receivable resulting from higher
sales.

The beginning of 2014 was cautiously positive for the steel market in general
and for SSAB as a company. Demand in North America was good and prices of
standard steels increased. At the same time, we suffered from production and
delivery disruptions due to extreme weather conditions in North America, which
also resulted in higher costs for scrap metal, which is the primary input
material for SSAB’s American operations.

Demand for steel within EU28 improved somewhat during the first quarter, however
with continued price pressure in the market. Following a long downward trend,
demand stabilized or showed a modest upturn as regards to some of our customer
segments, albeit from very low levels. The positive trend in EU28 was to some
degree counterbalanced by great uncertainty and lower sales to Russia and
Turkey. We expect the American market to continue to develop positively in 2014,
driven primarily by good demand from energy-related customer segments and the
automotive industry. Steel consumption in the European market is also expected
to increase slightly during the year, driven by general macroeconomic trends.
The markets in Asia remain challenging, due to excess capacity and high
inventory levels. However, we see some signs of a recovery from the mining
sector in China and Australia.

On January 22 this year, we announced our ambition to combine with the Finnish
steel group, Rautaruukki. SSAB Annual General Meeting took, on April 9, all
decisions necessary for the completion of the combination and on April 14, we
launched the formal share exchange offer to Rautaruukki’s shareholders. The
acceptance notification period initially runs until May 12, but may be extended
depending on the process of approvals from competition authorities. The
combination is aimed at creating a flexible and cost-efficient steel company
with improved competitiveness.

Martin Lindqvist
President & CEO

Invitation to SSAB's first quarter 2014 results briefing

SSAB invites you to a presentation of the quarterly report at 09.30 a.m. CET on
Friday, April 25, 2014.
The interim report for the first quarter of 2014 will be presented by SSAB’s
President and CEO Martin Lindqvist and CFO Håkan Folin.

The press conference will be held in English and live webcasted on SSAB’s
website www.ssab.com. It is also possible to participate in the briefing via
telephone.

Venue and time of briefing: World Trade Center (WTC) Stockholm, Kungsbron 1,
Conference room Manhattan, 09:30 a.m. CET.

Telephone numbers: +46 8 505 564 74 (Sweden), +44 203 364 53 74 (UK), +1 855 753
22 30 (USA).

Link to webcast: Go to webcast (http://www.media-server.com/m/p/dw89agf6)

Instructions on how to participate in the webcast are available on SSAB’s
website, including presentation material for downloading.

This information is such that SSAB must disclose in accordance with the
Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication on April
25, 2014 at 07.30 am.
For further information, please contact:

Andreas Koch, Head of Investor Relations, andreas.koch@ssab.com, 46 8 45 45 729
SSAB is a global leader in value added, high strength steel. SSAB offers
products developed in close cooperation with its customers to create a stronger,
lighter and more sustainable world.SSAB has employees in over 45 countries and
operates production facilities in Sweden and the US. SSAB is listed on the
NASDAQ OMX Nordic Exchange, Stockholm. www.ssab.com

Attachments

04240886.pdf SSAB_Q1_2014_presentation_material.pdf