Steel maker OneSteel Ltd
(ASX:OST) has reported a 49% decline in profit for the first half and says it expects the rest of the financial year to remain challenging.
Net profit after tax for the six months to December 31, 2009 fell to $117 million down from $228 million for the first half of fiscal 2009.
Underlying net profit for the period came to $119 million, a drop of 45% from the $215 million recorded for the same period a year ago.
Looking ahead the company says its expects the balance of the financial year to remain challenging, but it has increased confidence that the recovery will continue as expected and expects a more material volume improvement to occur through the 2011 financial year.
OneSteel declared an interim dividend of 5 cents a share unfranked.
OneSteel’s profit for the 2009 financial year came to $229.5 million.
