On May 8th, Russia's Magnitogorsk Steel Corporation (MMK) announced that in the first quarter, the company's main business profit was 560 million U.S. dollars, an increase of 23.9% over the same period of last year, but it was still lower than analysts' forecast.A recent survey showed that analysts generally expect MMK's EBITDA to increase by 26% to US$571 million in the first quarter of this year.

    According to MMK, in the first quarter of 2018, the increase in company sales and steel prices led the company's revenue to increase by 23.8% year-on-year to US$2.06 billion. In the first quarter, the company's EBITDA fell by 5.4% qoq, mainly due to the increase in raw material prices and the strengthening of the ruble to increase sales costs.

    For the next quarter's results, MMK predicts that the Russian domestic steel industry will maintain a stable and healthy operation status, but regular equipment maintenance may limit sales.