SAO PAULO, April 28 (Reuters) -

Steelmaker Gerdau ( GGB ) on Monday posted a slight beat

in its core earnings for the first quarter, saying the United

States' changes in steel trade policy helped offset weaker

results in its home base of Brazil.

Gerdau ( GGB ), Brazil's largest steelmaker by market

capitalization and the owner of mills across the Americas,

posted adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation

and amortization (EBITDA) of 2.4 billion reais, beating the 2.29

billion reais seen by analysts in an LSEG poll.

Still, the adjusted EBITDA fell nearly 15% year-on-year,

while adjusted net profit declined 39% to 758 million reais.

Gerdau ( GGB ) noted, however, that adjusted EBITDA remained

nearly stable quarter-over-quarter due to stronger results in

North America.

In the earnings report, the firm said the higher demand

in the United States was partly seasonal, "but also customers'

reaction to changes in US trade policy, increasing inventory

levels and favoring the purchase of domestically produced

steel."

Net revenue in North America increased more than 16%

from the quarter ended in December, while falling 3.5% in

Brazil.

Gerdau's ( GGB ) total net revenues stood at 17.38 billion reais

in the quarter, above the 17.06 billion reais expected in an

LSEG poll.

($1 = 5.6537 reais)