Brazilian long steel maker Gerdau (GGB) posted a steep loss in the second quarter as the company made tax payments and took write-downs on the tumbling value of some of its assets.

Gerdau, Brazil's largest steelmaker, reported a net loss of 329 million Brazilian reals ($181 million), down from a net profit of BRL2.12 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Without the non-recurring charges, Gerdau said it would have posted a net profit of BRL467 million.

Gerdau said the write-offs for decline in assets, net of tax payments, totaled BRL797 million in the quarter.

Eliminating Gerdau's write-offs and subsequent tax payments, the BRL467 million was in line with market expectations. Analysts polled by the local Estado news agency forecast a second-quarter net profit of BRL464 million.

Investors, however, were displeased with the results, sending Gerdau's locally traded shares tumbling 0.4% to BRL22.58 in early trading on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange.

Gerdau, the largest long steel maker in the western hemisphere, reported net revenue of BRL6.4 billion for the quarter, down 42% from BRL11.1 billion a year ago.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, fell 78% to BRL595 million from BRL2.75 billion a year earlier. Ebitda margin, a key indicator of profitability, slid to 9.3% versus 24.7%.

Crude steel output fell 45% in second quarter to 3.1 million metric tons from 5.64 million tons a year earlier as the company reduced output because of slack demand. The company shut down several furnaces as the global economic slowdown sapped steel demand around the world.

Production, however, was up from 2.55 million metric tons in the first quarter, Gerdau said.

Consolidated sales volume of all Gerdau steel products plummeted 39% in the second quarter to 3.38 million metric tons from 5.49 million tons a year earlier.

On the positive side, Gerdau said that the 16% appreciation of the Brazilian real against the U.S. dollar led to a BRL517 million foreign-exchange gain in the second quarter. That compared with a BRL178 million foreign-exchange loss in the first quarter.

The company ended the second quarter with a net debt of BRL12.7 billion, down from BRL17.7 billion at the end of December 2008.

-By Jeff Fick, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-21-2586-6085; Jeff.Fick@dowjones.com