Russia's Evraz says 2016 core earnings up 7 pct y/y

MOSCOW, March 1 (Reuters) - Evraz (LSE: EVR.L - news) , one of Russia's largest steel producers, said on Wednesday its core earnings rose 7 percent year-on-year in 2016 to $1.54 billion.

That compares to earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $1.44 billion in 2015, the company said.

Evraz narrowed its net loss to $188 million, versus a loss of $719 million in 2015, mostly due to $465 million in asset impairments, it said in a statement. Revenue slipped 12 percent year-on-year to $7.7 billion.

"As we progress into 2017, we remain cautiously optimistic about the market environment and expect ... to generate resilient free cash flow and further decrease leverage," said CEO Alexander Frolov. (Reporting by Jack Stubbs; editing by Polina Devitt)