METALLOINVEST ANNOUNCES 2019 IFRS FINANCIAL RESULTS

Moscow, Russia - 17 March 2020 - Metalloinvest ("the Company"), a leading global iron ore and HBI producer, and one of the regional producers of high-quality steel, today publishes its audited IFRS financial results for the full year ended 31 December 2019.

Management comments

Andrey Varichev, CEO of Management Company Metalloinvest, commented:

"In 2019, we faced the unusual market conditions driven by spreads between global iron ore and steel prices.

Metalloinvest business model based on high value-added products proved its sustainability. The Company demonstrated solid financial results despite the external challenges.

We also continued to work on key areas of strategic development - upgrading production facilities, improving product quality, increasing focus on customer requirements, introducing digital technologies, ensuring occupational health and safety, and reducing our environmental impact."

Alexey Voronov, Finance Director of Management Company Metalloinvest, added:

"In 2019, the Company's EBITDA amounted to USD 2.5 billion, while the EBITDA margin remained at the high level of 36%. A large-scale programme of credit portfolio optimisation, which was implemented last year, allowed us to significantly reduce interest costs on debt servicing. At the same time, the Company's leverage remains at a comfortable level, with a Net Debt / EBITDA of 1.49x at the end of the reporting period, and the share of short-term debt as a percentage of our total liabilities recorded at less than 2%."

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

- Revenue USD 6,960 mn (-3.2% y-o-y)
- EBITDA USD 2,514 mn (-14.3%)
- EBITDA margin 36.1% vs. 40.8% in 2018
- Net Income USD 1,731 mn (+5.1%)
- Total Debt USD 4,059 mn (+0.2% compared to 31 December 2018)
- Net Debt / EBITDA 1.49x vs. 1.14x as of 31 December 2018
- Capital Expenditure USD 517 mn (+17.2%)

PRODUCTION HIGHLIGHTS

- Iron ore 40.2 mn tonnes (-0.3%)
- Pellets 28.1 mn tonnes (+1.5%)
- HBI/DRI 7.9 mn tonnes (+0.5%)
- Hot metal 2.7 mn tonnes (-9.1%)
- Crude steel 4.9 mn tonnes (-3.7%)

KEY CORPORATE HIGHLIGHTS

Operational developments and capital expenditure

- Launch of the first technological phase of Derrick Fine Screening Technology at MGOK
- Launch of shipments of premium quality pellets with high basicity from MGOK
- Start of construction of grinding ball mill at OEMK
- Launch of heat treatment facility for hot-rolled steel (SBQ) at OEMK
- Launch of CCM #3 at OEMK after technical re-equipping
- Launch of two electric arc furnaces using FMF technology at Ural Steel
- Coordination meetings with United Metallurgical Company (OMK), KAMAZ and ChelPipe Group
- Completion of the second stage of Metalloinvest's major digital transformation (the launch of a unified integrated financial and business management system)

Financing
- Upgrade of the Company's corporate credit rating by S&P to BB+/Stable, Moody's to Ba1/Stable, Fitch to BB+/Stable and by Expert RA, the Russian rating agency, to ruAA/Stable
- Improvement of the parameters of existing loans as well as raising of new funds (RUB-denominated bonds, pre-export financing in EUR, bank loans, etc.) in order to optimise the credit portfolio
- Opening of a sustainable finance credit line with ING Bank in the amount of up to USD 100 mn (or EUR equivalent)
- Signing of a framework agreement with 12 banks for executing deals under ECA backed financing: the first deal was set up with MUFG bank in the amount of EUR 9.9 mn (for the technical re-equipping of CCM #3 at OEMK)

Full press release and financial statements are available at:
http://www.metalloinvest.com/en/investors/financial-results/ 


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For further information, please contact:

Artem Lavrischev
Director of Investor Relations and Corporate Ratings

E: ir@metalloinvest.com

T: +7 (495) 981-55-55, ext. 7243

Anton Troshin
Director of Corporate Communications Department

E: pr@metalloinvest.com

T: +7 (495) 981-55-55, ext. 7629

Metalloinvest is a leading global iron ore and merchant HBI producer and supplier, and one of the regional producers of high-quality steel. The Company has the world's second-largest measured iron ore reserve base and is one of the lowest-cost iron ore producers. Metalloinvest is wholly controlled by HC USM LLC, the main beneficiary is Alisher Usmanov (49%).