Arcelor Mittal Q1 net up 44% to $2.3 bn

NRI business tycoon Lakshmi Mittal led Mittal Steel and Arcelor combine today reported a 43.7% increase in its first quarter net profit.

The company beat its own forecast due to accelerated synergy generation from its $38 billion takeover of Arcelor last year.

The world's largest steel maker, to be renamed Arcelor Mittal after completion of merger process later this year, said its net income rose to $2.3 billion in the quarter ended March 31, from $1.6 billion in the year-ago period.

Mittal Steel said in a separate statement that the two companies are actively working to complete the merger process as promptly as possible during 2007.

It said that the integration process was going as per plan and synergies worth $573 million were captured in the first quarter.

Lakshmi N Mittal, president & CEO, Arcelor Mittal, said in a statement: "These results reflect the strength of Arcelor Mittal's global business model and the continuing strong demand for steel generally. The benefits of combining Arcelor and Mittal Steel continue to outperform our expectations and we are on track to deliver synergies as planned".

The company's sales and operating income rose to $24.5 billion and $3.5 billion, respectively, from $20.9 billion and $2.5 billion in the year-ago period.

The results included the collective quarterly figures for both Mittal Steel and Arcelor.