Luxembourg’s steel giant has largely met financial analyst expectations for its second quarter performance. ArcelorMittal (MT) posted pre-charge earnings of $1.70 billion, the company said on Thursday.

Analysts had expected the company to post second quarter net income, or Ebitda, of $1.72 billion, according to a Vuma Consensus survey of 27 brokerage firms issued July 24.

This week’s number was an increase from net income of $1.57 billion for the first quarter of the year, but down from $2.56 billion during the second quarter of 2012, ArcelorMittal reported.

It also represented a net loss of $0.44 per share, up from $0.21 per share for the first quarter of the year.

The steel firm said it shipped 21.3 megatonnes of steel during the second quarter, up from 20.9 megatonnes during the previous three months, but still less than the 21.7 megatonnes it shipped during the second quarter of 2012.

Debt down, but will rise

The company shed roughly $2 billion in net debt during the second quarter, bringing the total down to $16.2 billion. However, it warned that increased capital expenditures would push the figure up to around $17 billion by the end of the year.

“Strong cash-flow performance has enabled us to reduce net debt to below our mid-year target”, Lakshmi N. Mittal, the company’s chair and CEO (photo, right, shaking hands with London mayor Boris Johnson in March), said in a statement.

ArcelorMittal forecast full year Ebidta of “greater than $6.5 billion”, driven by weaker demand but offset by lower raw material prices. In May, it had estimated pre-charge revenues of more than $7.1 billion for 2013.

“Although we have revised our full year guidance, the second half should deliver a clear underlying improvement relative to the second half of 2012, which we believe marked the lowest point in the cycle,” Mittal said.