Dallas, Texas 04/25/2014 (FINANCIALSTRENDS) – AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS) reported its 1Q14 earnings on 22nd April. The highlights of the earnings call are as follows.
It reported steel shipments to have picked up for the quarter at 1,262,100 tons. This was achieved on the back of sales worth $1.38 billion. The firm also achieved average selling price of $1096 per ton in the reporting period, which translates into a 3 percent increase over its 1Q13 price. Operating loss after tax came in at $86.1 million. This translates into a loss per diluted share of 63 cents. In contrast the steel maker had reported net loss of $9.9 million in 1Q13. Sequentially, the company had reported net income of $35.2 million.
The Steel manufacturer also disclosed that it had recently concluded a net $1.1 billion credit facility which is scheduled to expire in 2019, which has allowed the firm to plan ahead. It also reported cash flow and liquidity of $787 million.
The dip in net income was caused by both planned and unplanned down time that the production facility suffered in the reporting period. In addition the higher than expected energy costs caused due to unseasonal and extreme winter conditions, coupled with a onetime legal settlement were other major reasons for the dip in net income. The firm shipments in the first quarter were less than its 4Q13 shipments, due to unplanned down time at its Ashland manufacturing facility.
Explaining the reasons behind the slow down, AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS) Chairman, President and CEO James L. Wainscott has been quoted to have said that, “Our first quarter results were negatively impacted by extreme cold weather in the U.S., as well as planned and unplanned outages at our Ashland Works. Having worked through those challenges, we believe that AK Steel is well-positioned for a much improved second quarter.”
