SSAB’s Annual Report 2014 includes updated financial targets
SSAB will today publish its Annual Report 2014 in Swedish, English and Finnish on the company’s website. At the same time, SSAB will also publish its Sustainability Report 2014 in English. The Annual Report also presents SSAB’s updated financial targets. The target for return on capital employed has been replaced by the target to achieve industry-leading profitability measured as EBITDA margin. There is only one balance sheet target, which is debt/equity ratio. The dividend target remains unchanged.
Industry-leading profitability
In conjunction with SSAB’s Capital Markets Day in October 2014, SSAB presented its overriding ambition to recapture its leading position as one of the most profitable steel companies globally. Historically, SSAB has outperformed peer competitors. SSAB is a highly-specialized steel company and well-placed to strengthen profitability by capitalizing on the synergies from the acquisition of Rautaruukki, by continuing to develop profitable operations in the US, and by continuing to grow profitably through high-strength steels and value-added services. The objective is for SSAB to achieve industry-leading profitability (measured as EBITDA margin).
Dividend and capital structure
As earlier, our objective is to pay, over a business cycle, a dividend constituting around 50% of profit after tax, taking into account the net debt/equity ratio. Likewise, SSAB is keeping its objective as regards the capital structure, where the goal is a long-term debt/equity ratio of around 30%. SSAB is striving to gradually reduce the current debt/equity ratio, and thus continue to strengthen the balance sheet.
Distribution of the Annual Report 2014 and Sustainability Report 2014
SSAB’s Annual Report and Sustainability Report for 2014 are available from today, March 16, on the company’s website www.ssab.com from where they may be downloaded.
Hard copies of the Annual Report 2014 are available on request. You may order hard copies of the report via the company’s website using the link below, by emailing info@ssab.com or by telephoning +46 8 4545 700. Please note that the Annual Report will not be sent out to shareholders automatically, irrespective of whether they have earlier requested to receive the report.
For further information, please contact:
Andreas Koch, Head of Investor Relations, andreas.koch@ssab.com,
+46 8 4545 729
Liisa-Maija Seppänen, IR Manager, liisa-maija.seppanen@ssab.com,
+358 20 5939 232
This information is published by SSAB pursuant to the requirements of the Finnish Securities Market Act and the Swedish Securities Market Act. Submitted for publication at 10am CET, March 16, 2015.
SSAB is a Nordic and US-based steel company. SSAB offers value added products and services developed in close cooperation with its customers to create a stronger, lighter and more sustainable world. SSAB has employees in over 50 countries. SSAB has production facilities in Sweden, Finland and the US. SSAB is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm and has a secondary listing on the NASDAQ OMX in Helsinki. www.ssab.com.
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