(Recasts lede, adds more details)
Feb 20 (Reuters) - Australia's BlueScope Steel Ltd warned on Monday its second-half underlying earnings
before interest and tax could nearly halve sequentially due to
softer steel spreads across Asia and the Midwest, sending its
shares more than 13% lower.
The country's largest steel producer now sees underlying
EBIT in the range of A$480 million and A$550 million ($329.52
million - $377.58 million) for the second half, lower than its
prior half and missing a market consensus of A$620 million.
Steel prices retreated from a record high last year due to
relatively weak macro conditions amid strict COVID restrictions
in top consumer China, impacting demand and prices for the raw
material.
Shares of BlueScope Steel tumbled as much as 13.1% to hit
the bottom of the benchmark stock index, while the broader
market was down about 0.1%, as of 0010 GMT.
The company reported a 61% drop in first-half underlying net
profit after tax as customers cut inventories because of lower
prices for its signature product steel, while weather and labour
constraints also weighed.
Underlying net profit after tax for the six months ended
December fell to A$614.4 million from A$1,573.4 million a year
ago.
However, BlueScope Steel said it would extend its buyback
programme to allow the remaining capacity of up to A$380 million
to be bought over the next 12 months.
($1 = 1.4567 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Archishma Iyer in Bengaluru; editing by Diane
Craft and Subhranshu Sahu)
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