UPDATE 1-Russia Novolipetsk posts Q4 loss, sees weak Q1

MOSCOW, March 24 (Reuters) - Russia's Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) slid to a fourth-quarter net loss and said steel markets continue to deteriorate, which will impact its results in the current quarter, sending its shares lower.

The company, controlled by Vladimir Lisin, said its fourth-quarter net loss totalled $480.6 million, compared to a third-quarter profit of $1.23 billion.

It expects first-quarter 2009 revenue of $1.1 billion, and an earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin of about 20 percent.

This indicates that revenues would reach about half of the fourth-quarter level of $2.06 billion, although first-quarter volume production will increase by about 21 percent, quarter-on-quarter, to 2.1 million tonnes.

At 1049 GMT, NLMK shares were off 7.32 percent at 134.75 roubles per share on Russia's MICEX, underperforming a 3.45 percent fall in the wider market.

The company expects the steel market to remain weak all year.

'In 2009, we expect a significant year-on-year decrease in revenue due to lower sales volumes and price environment deterioration,' Chief Financial Officer Galina Aglyamova said in the statement.

'We anticipate that production volumes will reach 10 million tonnes of steel.'

Novolipetsk is also cutting its 2009 investment and maintenance capex by 48 percent year-on-year to $1 billion.

Novolipetsk joined domestic and international rivals by cutting prices and production in the fourth quarter.

In January, it reported that fourth-quarter steel output fell 40.2 percent from the third quarter and warned that declining prices would affect first-half 2009 results.

The company became the second Russian steelmaker to report a fourth-quarter loss after rival Severstal said earlier this month it slipped $1.21 billion into the red.

In the Tuesday statement, Novolipetsk said full-year net profit reached $2.28 billion, compared to $2.25 billion in 2007.

Full-year EBITDA rose 36 percent to $4.54 billion, less than the average estimate of $4.76 billion produced by Reuters earnings survey.

Full-year revenue reached $11.7 billion, up 52 percent, above the Reuters consensus of $11.58 billion.

(Reporting by Alfred Kueppers; editing by Simon Jessop) Keywords: NLMK/ ([e-mail]; Tel [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.