Metalloinvest\'s first half net profit soars 90 pct to $985 mln

Metalloinvest, one of Russia\'s leading metals producers, posted a 90 percent year-on-year increase in first half IFRS net profit to $985 million, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.The company\'s revenue rose 54 percent to $5.132 billion, while operating profit grew 56 percent to $1.487 billion.\"The company demonstrated solid performance in key financial metrics in H1 2011,\" Metalloinvest Deputy CEO and CFO Pavel Mitrofanov was quoted in the statement as saying. \"We have achieved strong results due to a substantial increase in iron ore production volumes, a diversification of the client base and export growth to prospective Asian markets, predominantly China, as well as the management efforts to control production costs,\"\"At the same time, the Company continues to develop its key investment projects aimed at increasing high value-added iron ore output,\"he said.EBITDA increased 63 percent to $1.982 billion, while EBITDA margin went up two percentage points to 39 percent in January-June 2011.The company\'s net debt amounted to $5.759 billion in the first six months of this year, Metalloinvest said.