AK Steel reported Tuesday a net loss of $147.1 million, or $0.83 per diluted share of common stock, for the fourth quarter of 2015, compared to net income of $13.5 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2014 and net income of $6.7 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2015.
“We achieved solid operational improvements during the fourth quarter as a direct result of focusing on the things that we can control,” said Roger K. Newport, AK Steel’s Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Newport continued, “We intentionally reduced our exposure to the spot markets as part of our margin enhancement initiatives. These initiatives include investing resources where value is realized, reflecting our margin enhancement focus.”
Net sales for the fourth quarter of 2015 were $1.54 billion on shipments of 1,655,800 tons, compared to net sales of $2.00 billion on shipments of 2,010,200 tons for the year-ago fourth quarter and net sales of $1.71 billion on shipments of 1,871,200 tons for the third quarter of 2015. The company’s shipments in the fourth quarter of 2015 declined from the year-ago fourth quarter and the third quarter of 2015, primarily as a result of the company’s decision to focus on sales of higher margin, value-added products and reduce sales to the carbon steel spot market.
For 2015, the company reported a net loss of $510.7 million, or $2.87 per diluted share, and an adjusted net loss of $53.5 million, or $0.30 per diluted share. Included in the net loss for 2015 were charges to write-off the company’s investments in Magnetation LLC and AFSG, a net corridor charge related to pension and OPEB liabilities, and charges related to the temporary idling of the Ashland Works blast furnace and steelmaking operations.
Sales for 2015 were $6.69 billion compared to sales of $6.51 billion in 2014. Shipments for 2015 were 7,089,200 tons compared to 6,132,700 tons in 2014. The increases are primarily the result of the September 2014 acquisition of Dearborn Works and continued strength in the automotive market, offset by lower sales to the carbon steel spot market.