Steelmaker Aperam's core profit slightly lags market view (updated)

Aperam SA

06/02/2026 06:27

Updates shares in paragraph 1, adds comments on outlook in paragraphs 3, 5-6 and 8, reference to ArcelorMittal report in paragraph 4. Adds chart showing steel price development

By Javi West Larrañaga

Feb 6 (Reuters) - European stainless steel producer Aperam APAM.AS reported fourth-quarter core earnings slightly below market expectations on Friday, but said they would rise quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of 2026, sending its shares 8% higher.

European steelmakers are set to benefit from increased protection in the European Union thanks to the recently enacted Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the European Commission's proposal to cut import quotas.

Though steel prices in Europe were depressed in 2025, the bloc's trade protection measures should cause a pickup in the utilisation of production capacity, Aperam CEO Sud Sivaji told Reuters.

That echoed comments from peer ArcelorMittal, which on Thursday said lower imports into Europe should allow the industry to run at higher capacity utilisations and help with profitability.

Analysts have said the EU measures should also bring a greater price acceleration in 2026. Aperam said this would depend on how the change in supply would line up with demand in the region.

"Investments, specifically the German investment plan, will also provide an underlying support to how the economy performs from H2 2026 ... the stainless segment should have a pickup on that as well," Sivaji said.

In the fourth quarter, the the average selling price of stainless and electrical steel fell 16% compared to end-2024, company data showed.

Banking in the European recovery, Aperam aims for a normalised core profit of 700 million to 800 million euros by 2028, which would more than double last year's result of 339 million euros ($400 million).

In the fourth quarter, the adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were 67 million euros, while analysts polled by LSEG had forecast 68.4 million euros on average.

That was more than 40% lower than in the same period in 2024, which Aperam put down to price pressures, seasonality and annual maintenance in Brazil, along with low demand in Europe and a weak oil and gas industry.

The brunt of it was taken by the stainless and electrical steel unit, most affected by low prices, which saw a 74% core profit decline in the quarter.

($1 = 0.8482 euros)

Prices under pressure https://reut.rs/4qZAL0V

(Reporting by Javi West Larrañaga in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)

((Javier.West@thomsonreuters.com; +34 918 35 61 12;))