AK Steel Q3 Profit Plummets - Update

10/27/2009 10:13 AM ET (RTTNews) - Steel manufacturer AK Steel Holding Corp. (AKS: News ) on Tuesday reported a sharp decline in third-quarter profit, as sales fell more than half from last year, hurt by lower shipments and average sales price. However, the company's results came in above the analysts' expectations.

The West Chester, Ohio-based company reported net income attributable to AK Steel Holding of $6.2 million or $0.06 per share, compared to $188.3 million or $1.67 per share in the year-ago quarter. Net income for the quarter fell to $5.7 million from $188.5 million a year ago.

On average, 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report $0.01 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the quarter more than halved to $1.04 billion from last year's $2.16 billion, but topped the eight analysts' consensus estimate of $1.03 billion.

The company had shipments of 1,047,800 tons, down from shipments of 1,476,300 tons in the prior-year quarter. Average selling price for the quarter was $994 per ton, approximately 32% lower than the $1,462 per ton average price realized in the third quarter of 2008.

Operating profit for the recent quarter was $15.3 million, or $15 per ton, compared to $309.6 million, or $210 per ton, for the third quarter of 2008.

For the first nine months of 2009, AK Steel posted a net loss attributable to AK Steel Holding of $114.4 million or $1.05 per share, versus a profit of $434.6 million or $3.85 per share in the year-ago period. Net loss was $115.9 million, compared to a profit of $435 million in the corressponding period of 2008. Sales for the period plunged to $2.76 billion from $6.18 billion in the comparable period.