Protecting the health and well-being of employees remains an overarching priority of the company. To this end, it is adopting a shift to a 'predict and prevent' culture (proactive PSIFs), with a particular focus on proactively reporting and responding to situations that pose a risk of serious injury or death. In the first quarter of 2023, the company's LTIF2 ratio will be 0.64x.
Business performance improved
Operating income for the first quarter of 2023 was $1.2 billion. This represents a significant increase compared to an operating loss of $0.3 billion in Q4 2022. In addition, EBITDA in Q1 2023 was recorded at $1.8 billion, which was higher compared to $1.3 billion in Q4 2022. EBITDA margin was $126/t in Q1 2023, a significant increase compared to $100/t in Q4 2022.
The company's share value growth was $1.28/share basic EPS in Q1 2023, $0.30/share basic EPS in Q4 2022, 12-month ROE 14.2%; book value per share was $64/share in Q1 2023. In addition, the company's net income for the first quarter of 2023 was $1.1 billion, which includes $0.3 billion of joint venture and associates' share of net income.
The company ended March 2023 with net debt of $5.2 billion, compared to net debt of $2.2 billion in December 2022. This debt increase was primarily due to the $2.2 billion acquisition of ArcelorMittal Pecém, known as CSP18, $0.5 billion spent on share buybacks and $0.8 billion spent on periodic investment in working capital. As of 31 March 2023, the Company has gross debt of $11.5 billion and cash and cash equivalents of $6.3 billion (compared to $11.7 billion and $9.4 billion at 31 December 2022, respectively).
The company serves as a platform for investment and stable returns on capital, with recent acquisitions (ArcelorMittal Pecém (Brazil) and ArcelorMittal Texas HBI) and completed strategic investment projects (Mexican hot strip mill) performing well relative to assumed normalised profitability levels. Capital expenditure of $0.9 billion in the first quarter of 2023 was in line with full-year expectations in the range of $4.5 billion to $5.0 billion.
The company repurchased 19.1 million shares in 2023 to complete its buyback programme and announced its intention to repurchase 85 million shares by May 2025, the level of repurchases will depend on the level of FCF after dividends achieved. The company's capital return policy provides that at least 50 per cent of annual FCF after dividends will be returned to shareholders through share buybacks. The Company announced that it will pay a base dividend of $0.44/share in June 2023 and December 2023. In addition, in April 2023, the Company announced that ArcelorMittal Brasil will develop a 554 MW wind power project in northeast Brazil through a renewable energy joint venture partnership with Casa dos Ventos.
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