SSAB towards industry-leading profitability


SSAB is holding its Capital Markets Day in Stockholm today, October 1, 2014.
SSAB aims to be one of the most profitable steel companies by developing its
unique product and service offering within high-strength steels globally, and by
improving efficiency in its production, distribution and sales of top-quality
steel on the home markets in the Nordic region and USA. Consequent to the
combination with the Finnish steelmaker Rautaruukki, SSAB will, over a three
-year period, realize synergies reducing the annual cost base by SEK 1.4
billion. In addition to the cost synergies, SSAB expects to reduce net working
capital by around SEK 500 million and to avoid overlapping capital expenditure
of SEK 1.4 billion.
“We have every possibility to recapture our position as one of the most
profitable steel companies compared to relevant peers. We enjoy an unrivalled
global position within high-strength steels, a segment where there is good
future growth potential. We are market leader in heavy plate in North America,
which is an attractive growing market, and we have a clear plan to increase
profitability in our operations in Europe. Our recent combination with Ruukki
will enable us to reduce the cost base structurally in Europe with SEK 1.4
billion. Furthermore, the new SSAB will have better capabilities to grow
globally within high-strength steel, and to strengthen its offering on the home
markets,” says SSAB’s President and CEO Martin Lindqvist.

SSAB will reduce the cost base by SEK 1.4 billion
The combination with Rautaruukki was completed on July 29, 2014 and the new
organization structured into five new divisions - SSAB Special Steels, SSAB
Europe, SSAB Americas, Tibnor, and Ruukki Construction - has been in place since
September. The appendix shows pro forma quarterly figures for the Group and
respective divisions from 2013 and onwards. SSAB’s target is to reduce the cost
base by SEK 1.4 billion on an annual basis, with full run rate achieved in mid
-2017. The synergies are estimated to amount to around SEK 350 million during
2015, around SEK 800 million in 2016, around SEK 1,200 million in 2017 and
around SEK 1,400 million in 2018. The synergy assessment is based on current
market conditions. If the market improves, synergies could be lower, but in all
scenarios SSAB will capture at least SEK 1.0 billion.

In addition to cost synergies, some strategic and maintenance capital
expenditure, equating to a value of SEK 1.4 billion, can be avoided. As a result
of the combination, SSAB further expects to tie up less working capital,
primarily by lowering the inventory levels. The expected working capital
reduction is estimated to result in a positive effect on cash flow of around SEK
500 million, with around half of this being freed up during 2015.

One-off costs that will impact the result for the third quarter this year that
directly related to completion of the transaction amount to approximately SEK
325 million. These costs consist primarily of transfer tax, adviser costs and
financing costs. In addition, SSAB estimates restructuring costs of
approximately SEK 550 million will be required to achieve the synergies. Of
these costs, approximately SEK 400 million is cash-cost and the remaining SEK
150 million is non-cash cost due to potential write-downs of assets.
Restructuring costs will be impacting the result as the measures are defined.

The balance sheet total of the new company totals SEK 89 billion and net gearing
is 51% as at June 30, 2014. The appendix shows the pro forma balance sheet as at
June 30, 2014.

SSAB currently owns 95.1% of Rautaruukki Corporation shares. The remaining
shares will be acquired through ongoing compulsory redemption proceedings. Since
August 1, Rautaruukki has been fully consolidated into SSAB’s result.

Well placed to recapture industry-leading profitability and growth
During the past few years, the market situation for the steel industry has been
challenging. Going forward, there are some factors that indicate a potential
improvement from the low levels of recent years. In addition, current market
trends such as energy efficiency and material efficiency will result in
increased demand for high-strength steel.

The new SSAB gains benefits both through cost synergies and potential to
increase sales – resulting from cross selling potential, a stronger product
offering and through greater resources for application development.

Looking ahead, there are many possibilities to continue work on developing the
new company. This includes increasing the presence in the emerging markets,
expanding value-added end-user services and aftermarket operations and
increasing capacity in the USA.

SSAB sees good potential to improve profitability and to be one of the most
profitable steel companies compared to relevant peers in terms of EBITDA margin.

A live webcast of the presentations will begin at 1 pm CET on October 1. Please
see the link below:

http://www.media-server.com/m/p/uxwo5ufc

.

For further information, please contact

Andreas Koch, Head of Investor Relations, +46 8 45 45 729, Andreas.koch@ssab.com

SSAB is a Nordic and US-based steel company. SSAB offers value added products
and services developed in close cooperation with its customers to create a
stronger, lighter and more sustainable world. SSAB has employees in over 50
countries. SSAB has production facilities in Sweden, Finland and the US. SSAB is
listed on the NASDAQ OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm and has a secondary
listing on the NASDAQ OMX in Helsinki. www.ssab.com

APPENDIX

Financial data for the SSAB Group pro forma including Rautaruukki

+----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|Group           |      |      |      |      |      |      ||       |
+----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|SEK million     |  1/13|  2/13|  3/13|  4/13|  1/14|  2/14||FY 2013|
+----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|Net sales       |14 114|14 557|13 800|14 542|14 598|15 208|| 57 013|
+----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|EBITDA          |   828|   954|   360|   614|   833| 1 179||  2 756|
+----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|EBITDA margin, %|    6%|    7%|    3%|    4%|    6%|    8%||     5%|
+----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|EBIT            |  -105|    18|  -519|  -253|   -10|   321||   -859|
+----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|EBIT margin, %  |   -1%|    0%|   -4%|   -2%|    0%|    2%||    -2%|
+----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|Financial items |  -208|  -247|  -227|  -238|  -305|  -259||   -920|
+----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|Profit/loss     |  -313|  -229|  -746|  -491|  -315|    62|| -1 779|
|after financial |      |      |      |      |      |      ||       |
|items           |      |      |      |      |      |      ||       |
+----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+

+-------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|Net Sales by |      |      |      |      |      |      ||       |
|Division per |      |      |      |      |      |      ||       |
|quarter      |      |      |      |      |      |      ||       |
+-------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|SEK million  |  1/13|  2/13|  3/13|  4/13|  1/14|  2/14||FY 2013|
+-------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|SSAB Special | 3 430| 3 355| 2 819| 3 243| 3 348| 3 477|| 12 847|
|Steels       |      |      |      |      |      |      ||       |
+-------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|SSAB Europe  | 6 262| 6 409| 5 796| 6 199| 6 649| 6 568|| 24 666|
+-------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|SSAB Americas| 2 647| 2 606| 2 873| 3 004| 2 831| 3 152|| 11 130|
+-------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|Tibnor       | 2 098| 2 157| 1 871| 1 968| 2 055| 2 077||  8 094|
+-------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|Ruukki       | 1 229| 1 731| 1 941| 1 730| 1 224| 1 625||  6 631|
|Construction |      |      |      |      |      |      ||       |
+-------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|Other        |-1 552|-1 701|-1 500|-1 602|-1 509|-1 691|| -6 355|
+-------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+
|Net Sales    |14 114|14 557|13 800|14 542|14 598|15 208|| 57 013|
+-------------+------+------+------+------+------+------++-------+

+------------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+-----++-------+
|EBITDA by Division per quarter|    |    |    |    |    |     ||       |
+------------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+-----++-------+
|SEK million                   |1/13|2/13|3/13|4/13|1/14| 2/14||FY 2013|
+------------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+-----++-------+
|SSAB Special Steels           | 429| 383|-125| 364| 377|  471||  1 051|
+------------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+-----++-------+
|SSAB Europe                   | 318| 311| 104| -21| 364|  383||    712|
+------------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+-----++-------+
|SSAB Americas                 | 149|  76| 209| 276| 194|  299||    710|
+------------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+-----++-------+
|Tibnor                        |  62|  89|  30|  17|  51|   57||    198|
+------------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+-----++-------+
|Ruukki Construction           | -64|  96| 187|  82| -37|   74||    301|
+------------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+-----++-------+
|Other                         | -66|  -1| -45|-104|-116| -105||   -216|
+------------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+-----++-------+
|EBITDA                        | 828| 954| 360| 614| 833|1 179||  2 756|
+------------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+-----++-------+

+-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----++-------+
|EBIT by Division per   |    |    |    |    |    |    ||       |
|quarter                |    |    |    |    |    |    ||       |
+-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----++-------+
|SEK million            |1/13|2/13|3/13|4/13|1/14|2/14||FY 2013|
+-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----++-------+
|SSAB Special Steels    | 292| 246|-262| 225| 242| 338||    501|
+-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----++-------+
|SSAB Europe            | -62| -78|-280|-402| -16|  10||   -822|
+-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----++-------+
|SSAB Americas          |  33| -40|  90| 158|  74| 176||    241|
+-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----++-------+
|Tibnor                 |  39|  67|   8|  -5|  29|  34||    109|
+-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----++-------+
|Ruukki Construction    |-128|  39| 128|   8| -92|   1||     47|
+-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----++-------+
|Other                  | -78| -10| -52|-114|-123|-113||   -254|
+-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----++-------+
|Depreciation/amortizati|-201|-206|-151|-123|-124|-125||   -681|
|on on surplus values*  |    |    |    |    |    |    ||       |
+-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----++-------+
|EBIT                   |-105|  18|-519|-253| -10| 321||   -859|
+-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----++-------+

+-------------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----++-------+
|Operating cash flow Group|    |    |    |     |      |     ||       |
+-------------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----++-------+
|SEK million              |1/13|2/13|3/13| 4/13|  1/14| 2/14||FY 2013|
+-------------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----++-------+
|EBIT                     |-105|  18|-519| -253|   -10|  321||   -859|
+-------------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----++-------+
|Depreciation/amortization| 933| 936| 879|  867|   843|  858||  3 615|
+-------------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----++-------+
|Change in working capital| -38| 335| 571|1 001|-1 117|   84||  1 869|
+-------------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----++-------+
|Maintenance expenditures |-215|-340|-347| -425|  -250| -397|| -1 327|
+-------------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----++-------+
|Other                    | -23| -81|   1|   44|    22|  223||    -59|
+-------------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----++-------+
|Operating cash flow      | 552| 868| 585|1 234|  -512|1 089||  3 239|
+-------------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----++-------+

+-------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----++-------+
|Steel shipments    |     |     |     |     |     |     ||       |
+-------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----++-------+
|Thousand tonnes    | 1/13| 2/13| 3/13| 4/13| 1/14| 2/14||FY 2013|
+-------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----++-------+
|SSAB Special Steels|  276|  287|  243|  258|  291|  295||  1 065|
+-------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----++-------+
|SSAB Europe        |  883|  909|  817|  927|  984|  952||  3 535|
+-------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----++-------+
|SSAB Americas      |  494|  466|  530|  558|  496|  522||  2 047|
+-------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----++-------+
|Total shipments    |1 653|1 662|1 590|1 742|1 772|1 768||  6 647|
+-------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----++-------+

+--------------------------+---------+---------+
|Balance sheet Group**     |         |         |
+--------------------------+---------+---------+
|                          |         |         |
+--------------------------+---------+---------+
|SEK million               |31 Dec 13|30 Jun 14|
+--------------------------+---------+---------+
|Goodwill                  |   23 223|   24 141|
+--------------------------+---------+---------+
|Other intangible assets   |    2 485|    2 348|
+--------------------------+---------+---------+
|Tangible fixed assets     |   26 071|   25 771|
+--------------------------+---------+---------+
|Other fixed assets        |    3 985|    3 953|
+--------------------------+---------+---------+
|Total fixed assets        |   55 764|   56 213|
+--------------------------+---------+---------+
|Inventories               |   13 739|   13 927|
+--------------------------+---------+---------+
|Accounts receivable       |    6 952|    8 219|
+--------------------------+---------+---------+
|Other current receivables |    2 108|    2 510|
+--------------------------+---------+---------+
|Current investments & cash|    2 540|    7 779|
+--------------------------+---------+---------+
|Total current assets      |   25 339|   32 435|
+--------------------------+---------+---------+
|Total assets              |   81 103|   88 648|
+--------------------------+---------+---------+

+----------------------------+------+------+
|Total equity                |40 478|41 739|
+----------------------------+------+------+
|Total long-term liabilities |23 541|28 264|
+----------------------------+------+------+
|Accounts payable            | 7 064| 6 806|
+----------------------------+------+------+
|Other current liabilities   |10 020|11 839|
+----------------------------+------+------+
|Total current liabilities   |17 084|18 645|
+----------------------------+------+------+
|Total equity and liabilities|81 103|88 648|
+----------------------------+------+------+

+---------------------+------+------+
|Net debt             |20 735|21 467|
+---------------------+------+------+
|Net debt equity ratio| 51.2%| 51.4%|
+---------------------+------+------+

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|*Refering to SSAB Americas                                               |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|**The purchase price allocation has not been finalized. The total step-up|
|value is included in Goodwill.                                           |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Attachments

10010967.pdf