Australia's Bluescope Steel posts $570M loss

Associated Press

SYDNEY (AP) — Bluescope Steel Ltd., Australia's largest steel producer, has reported a 530 million Australian dollar (US$570 million) first-half net loss.

The result posted Monday for the six months through December 2011 is nearly 10 times larger than the AU$55 million loss for the same period a year earlier.

The company says it included one-off restructuring costs (AU$260 million), impairment of deferred tax assets (AU$184 million) and income advanced under the federal government's Steel Transformation Plan (AU$46 million).

BlueScope Steel managing director Paul O'Malley says the company is on track to deliver a full-year working capital release of AU$400 million to AU$500 million and has initiatives for further debt reduction.