Corus calls off wedding

Manufacturing News, Source : TheManufacturer.com
Published : 14 Nov 2002 10:10

Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus announced yesterday that it had walked away from its proposed merger with the Brazilian steel firm Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN).

Although Corus said there had been a strong strategic rationale for the merger, it blamed “ongoing uncertainties in the global business environment and the financial markets” for ditching its plans.

Corus said its management would “remain strongly focused on the restoration of the performance and competitiveness of its existing carbon steel assets”. It did, however, warn of lower than expected demand for steel products in its core UK and continental European markets and said that profits were not recovering as quickly as it had hoped. It expects operating performance for the second half of the year to result in a loss of around £152m, £100m better than the first half loss of £252m.

Fears that the improving trend might not continue beyond the first quarter led to fears of further job cuts and caused the value of Corus shares to fall by nearly one third.

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