Corus hits profit for first time.Byline: By DAVID JONES David Jones is a common name, particularly in Wales, and there have been several well-known individuals with this name. Variations include Dave Jones and Davy Jones. ANGLO DUTCH steel maker Corus Group Corus Group plc, normally referred to simply as Corus, is one of the world's largest producers of steel, headquartered in London. It was formed from the merger of Koninklijke Hoogovens N.V. - which has a steel finishing plant on Deeside - is reporting an annual net profit for the first time thanks to strong global demand led by China. Corus, formed from the merger of British Steel and Dutch firm Hoogovens in 1999, said it made a net profit of pounds 446m in the year to January 1, compared with a net loss of pounds 305m in the same period a year ago. Spokeswoman Annanya Sarin sarin (zärēn`), volatile liquid used as a nerve gas. It boils at 147°C; but evaporates quickly at room temperature; its vapor is colorless and odorless. said it was the first time Corus has reported a net profit since its formation six years ago. Pretax profits hit pounds 559m. Sales, including Corus' share of joint ventures, rose 17% to pounds 9.63bn. Sales volume for steel was unchanged from 2003 at 21 million tons, but selling prices increased sharply thanks to rising global demand. The company said it benefited from a strong period of global economic growth in 2004, led by the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and China. It added that China accounted for 28% of global steel demand and 26% of global crude steel production. Corus said production of crude steel was limited in 2004 by the tight supply of raw materials, including iron ore, coal and coke, much of which had been diverted to feed the domestic Chinese industry. It also said a major restructuring program helped improve its performance in 2004. However, chief executive Philippe Varin was cautious about longer-term prospects: 'Overall, we expect the first half trading environment to be broadly in line with the second half of last year. As the year progresses we see conditions as more uncertain Michael Leahy, general secretary of steelworkers' union Community, said: 'The pretax profits of pounds 559m announced by Corus today are a tribute to the performance of its workforce. 'In particular, the improvement in productivity of the company's UK operations are nothing short of magnificent. These results are good news for the shareholders and employees alike.' The Corus Engineering Steels business is one of the major suppliers of steel for aircraft landing gear. Steel from that Corus division is used by Airbus, which makes wings for its aircraft at Broughton, Flintshire Broughton (Welsh: Brychdyn) is a small district in Flintshire, NE Wales, close to the Wales–England border and located to the West of the City of Chester, England. . This month Corus said it was upgrading furnace capacity at Stocksbridge, near Sheffield, to supply the aerospace market |
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