* H1 net loss $999 million vs forecast for $330 million
* Total debt reduced by $1.5 billion to $8.5 billion
* Expects better results in H2 compared with H1
* Shares down 4.9 percent
(Adds analyst, CFO comments)
MOSCOW, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Russian steelmaker Evraz Group slumped to a first-half net loss of almost $1 billion on lower steel prices and write downs, the company said on Tuesday, sending its shares down sharply in London.
At 1249 GMT the London-listed GDRs were down 4.9 percent at $25.82.
"At first glance it was a bit shocking at nearly $1 billion, though in fact 83 percent of this loss came from an accounting change," Deutsche Bank analyst Olga Okuneva said.
The loss, which compares with a year-earlier profit of $2.0 billion, was greater than the average $330 million net loss forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts.
Excluding the impact of the accounting change, which included a $194 million impairment and a valuation deficit of $420 million on production assets, Evraz said its first-half net loss would have been $166 million.
Steel makers in Russia, the world's fourth-largest producer, have suffered from a decline in orders from the construction and automotive sectors since the financial crisis hit last year.
The situation started to improve in the second quarter, leading to an improved outlook for the second half.
"We expect better results in the second half of the current financial year than in the first half," Evraz Chief Executive Alexander Frolov said in a statement.
Rival Novolipetsk Steel, Russia's No.4 steel maker by volume, last week also said its results will be better in the second half of the year.
Neither company provided any concrete financial details in their outlook.
Evraz also said adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) reached $468 million in the first half, down 87 percent from a year ago and below the consensus forecast of $559 million.
Sales in the period reached $4.64 billion, down 57 percent.
DEBT REDUCTION
Evraz, part-owned by billionaire Roman Abramovich, also reduced its debt by $1.5 billion to $8.5 billion in the first half of the year.
It is one of several companies in the Russian steel sector that borrowed heavily to fund expansion prior to the crisis, and, taken together, leading producers now have more than $30 billion in outstanding debt.
During a conference call with journalists, chief financial officer Giacomo Baizini said Evraz is finalising documentation for a one-year extension of a $1.2 billion VEB loan.
He added that "advanced negotiations" were under way to refinance a roughly $320 million VTB loan.
The company expects to have $900 million of short-term debt after refinancing. Although it has roughly $1.1 billion in cash, further debt reduction measures are planned. "We have no plans for further equity issues, apart from that of course we will look at all opportunities that are open to us on the capital markets to extend the maturities of our current debt," Baizini said.
Evraz in July raised $965 million to refinance some of its debt by issuing convertible bonds and shares.
The company said it had no plans to pay a 2009 dividend. (Reporting by Alfred Kueppers; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)