Paris — Global steel giant ArcelorMittal said on Friday that its net profit soared in the third quarter thanks to solid market demand as well as strong prices for its products. Sales jumped by 21.5% from the same period last year to $17.6bn, while its net profit shot up 71.4% to $1.2bn, both beating the consensus of estimates of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. "Favourable market conditions have supported another solid quarterly performance," CEO Lakshmi Mittal said in a statement. He pointed to operating earnings over the first nine months of the year, which rose by 36% from the same period last year to nearly $6.3bn. "Operating conditions continue to improve, with key indicators, including the ArcelorMittal-weighted PMI implying a positive outlook for 2018," he said, referring to surveys of executives on their business perspectives which are widely used as an indicator for future developments in the markets. In the third quarter, operating profit came in at $1.9bn, a gain of 1.4% f...
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