Us steel (x.steel) reported net income of $68 million, or 39 cents a share, in the second quarter of 2019, down from $214 million, or $1.20 a share, in the same period last year, after trading on Thursday in the United States, zhitong caijing APP learned.

The company's second-quarter adjusted earnings of 45 cents a share were five cents higher than the average estimate of analysts polled by FactSet.Sales fell about 2 per cent year on year to $3.55bn, but above analysts' expectations of $3.41bn, as higher steel shipments helped offset lower steel prices.

The company shipped 2.8 million tons of flat steel, up 8.5 percent from the second quarter of last year.Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation came in at $278m, beating analysts' expectations of $262m.

"Despite challenging market conditions, our performance in the second quarter was strong," chief executive David Burritt said.

Us steel shares rose 3.44 per cent to $15.02 in after-hours trading as of press time.