DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
AK Steel Holding Corp. (AKS) swung to a fourth-quarter profit
amid a big year-earlier charge as the company saw shipments jump
but average selling prices fall.
The steelmaker also said it expects current-quarter shipments to
be about the same level sequentially, though average sale prices
are expected to rise about 4% to 5%. The company said it expects to
report an operating profit of about $35 a ton for the first
quarter.
Shares of the company rose 4% to $21 in premarket action as the
latest quarter's results topped analysts' expectations. The stock
has more than doubled the past year. Shares of U.S. Steel Corp. (X)
and Nucor Corp. (NUE) also rose premarket.
Steelmakers have been slammed by the slowdown in sales of
everything from appliances to autos to construction materials. AK
Steel in October projected fourth-quarter shipments would rise
nearly 25% from the third quarter, primarily in carbon-steel
products. The total increase was 31%.
AK reported a profit of $39.8 million, or 36 cents a share, from
a year-earlier loss of $430.6 million, or $3.87. In the
year-earlier quarter, the company took a $699.5 million pension
charge. Revenue dropped 9.5% to $1.32 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast
earnings of 20 cents on $1.25 billion in revenue.
Gross margin surged to 14.3% from 7.8% on lower commodity
costs.
The company said its average selling price fell 29% from a year
earlier to $964 a ton, but total shipments rose 27%. Earlier this
month, AK announced it would raise prices on all new orders for
carbon-steel products in response to increased demand and higher
costs.
-By Nathan Becker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2855;
nathan.becker@dowjones.com;