MOSCOW, April 30 (RIA Novosti) - Mechel [NYSE: MTL], a leading Russian mining and steel company, said on Wednesday its net profit calculated to Russian Accounting Standards increased 24.7%, year-on-year, in the first quarter to 46.5 billion rubles ($1.9 billion).

Mechel attributed its net profit growth to adjustments in financial investment (shares) to market value.

Mechel has several metal plants in Russia, Romania and Lithuania. It unites producers of coal, ore, nickel, steel, and highly-processed steel products for the domestic and foreign markets.

In 2007, the company's output totaled 21.2 mln metric tons of coal and 5.1 mln tons of rolled products.