Ljubljana - Steel group SIJ increased its sales revenue by 34.2% to EUR 714.6 million in the first nine months of the year over the same period last year. Profit before tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) reached EUR 73.5 million, the company said on Monday.

The group's EBITDA margin, showing the company's operating profit as a percentage of its revenue, increased by almost 4.5 points to 10.3%.

Almost EUR 41.5 million was channelled into investment in the January-September period, said the group, which is in majority Russian ownership.

To disperse its financing, SIJ is examining the option of a new, eighth issue of commercial papers, but the final decision is yet to be taken.

The group finished 2020 with a loss of nearly EUR 50 million on EUR 696 million in sales revenue, a drop of over 9% compared to 2019.