MOSCOW, November 28 (RIA Novosti) - Mechel [NYSE: MTL], a leading Russian steel and alloy producer, said Tuesday its U.S. GAAP net income increased 18.2% year-on-year in the first nine months of 2006, to $372.12 million.
The company said sales grew 7.9% in the reporting period to $3.14 billion, and operating profit climbed 6.8% to $482.98 million.
EBITDA gained 17.5% to $668.54 million, and the EBITDA margin climbed from 19.6% to 21.3%.
The company also said asset value reached $4.22 billion as of September 30 against $3.6 billion at the start of the year.
Established in 2003, Mechel is also Russia's second largest rolled steel producer. It has several metal plants in Russia, Romania and Lithuania. It unites producers of coal, ore, nickel, steel, and highly-processed steel products for the domestic and foreign markets.
In 2005, the company's output totaled 15.6 mln tons of coal, 5.9 mln tons of steel, and 4.6 mln of rolled metal.
