ArcelorMittal (MT +0.78%) reported an annual loss this week, the first annual net loss since the company was formed in 2006, according to The Wall Street Journal.
For 2012, the company's bottom-line shortfall was $3.7 billion ($2.41 per share), a steep drop from the $2.3 billion ($1.46) profit it netted the year before. Sales suffered a decline, to $84 billion from just under $94 billion recorded in 2011.
The company also posted its Q4 results this week, in which the net loss was even steeper. That figure was in the red at nearly $4 billion ($2.58 per share), against a $1 billion ($0.46) loss in the same quarter the previous year.
ArcelorMittal, which dates from a 2006 merger, expects that 2013 will be better. The company's forecasts anticipate an increase in EBITDA, although it did not specify by how much, and a 2%-3% year-over-year rise in steel shipments.
On the negative side, the firm's board of directors has proposed dividends amounting to $0.20 per share for the year, as opposed to 2012's total payout of $0.75.
