SYDNEY, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Australian steel giant Bluescope Steel released their half yearly statement on Monday with a huge 79-percent increase in their net profit for the period, which jumped to 359.1 million dollars (275.56 U.S. million dollars).
The increase represented a 159-million-dollar boost over last year for the steel maker, with their underlying NPAT of 360 million dollars being a robust 203-percent higher than last year's results.
Managing director and CEO of Bluescope, Paul O'Malley was buoyed by the strong results, and attributed his company's performance to a number of key factors.
"The strong growth was generated through delivery of productivity and cost improvements, sales growth, improved steel spreads and the benefit of the North Star acquisition," O'Malley said.
Bluescope will pay a fully-franked interim dividend of 4.0 cents per share to shareholders.
