SAO PAULO, July 31 (Reuters) - Brazilian steelmaker

Gerdau ( GGB ) on Thursday reported an 8.6% decline in its

second-quarter adjusted net profit when compared to a year

earlier, to 864 million reais ($154.26 million).

Analysts polled by LSEG had expected an 847-million-real

adjusted profit for the quarter.

Gerdau's ( GGB ) adjusted earnings before interest, taxes,

depreciation, amortization (EBITDA) came in at 2.56 billion

reais, down 2.4% and mostly in line with the 2.57 billion reais

expected by analysts.

($1 = 5.6008 reais)