While profit grew more than 10 fold due and revenue grew 77%, steel production fell 1% and steel sales grew only 15% to 3 million tonnes.
Gerdau said there were positive trends at its Brazil unit, with revenue more than doubling compared to a year ago and displacing the North America unit, which in the first quarter of 2020 was the company's largest by revenue.
The South Africa-listed company said headline earnings per share - the main measure of corporate profit in the country - are expected to be between 2,529 cents and 2,640 cents for the six months ended Dec. 31, higher than the 1,114 cents per share it reported last year.