The world's largest metal recycler expects early benefits from a five year turnaround plan to boost its performance amid subdued market conditions.
Sims Metal Management plans to more than quadruple its earnings within five years as it works to streamline and grow its operations after several years of losses.
"As we start fiscal 2015 our number one focus will be on accelerating the pace of the implementation of the five year strategic plan to ensure that as many of the benefits can be brought forward as possible," chief executive Galdino Claro said.
Intake volumes of scrap in the early part of the year had improved, he said.
While encouraging, Sims has retained its conservative view that medium term market conditions would remain constrained.
"This reinforces our feeling that earnings improvements must come from our internal initiatives alone," Mr Claro said.
Sims also said it would build a new yard and shredder in Western Australia in 2014/15, and upgrade three of its non-ferrous metal recovery plants in North America.
The company is confident that 50 per cent of $32 million in earnings benefits from initial improvement programs would be achieved in 2014/2015, and the rest in the following year.
It hopes the whole range of improvements to be delivered by the five year plan will generate more than $300 million in earnings before interest and tax.
Sims' underlying earnings before interest and tax in 2013/14 were $118.5 million, up from $66.9 million in the previous year.
The company still made a net loss of $88.9 million, due in part to one-off writedowns, though this was substantially better than the $467.3 million loss it suffered a year ago.
Sales volumes and average prices for non-ferrous and precious metals in 2013/14 were down from the previous year.
But the company benefited from costs cuts, the sale of underperforming operations and early benefits from improvement initiatives.
Mr Claro said the company's Australasian and European metals recycling businesses made solid contributions to the group result.
North American metal recycling operations were hindered due to severe winter weather in the United States, although sales margins there did improve.
Sims shares dropped two cents to $12.08.
SIMS METAL IMPROVES BUT STILL HAS WORK TO DO
* Net loss of $88.9m, down 81 pct from $467.3m loss in 2012/13
* Revenue of $7.14b, down one pct from $7.2bn
* Final dividend of 10 cents a share, up from no dividend
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