Insteel Industries, Inc. today announced financial results for its fiscal second quarter ended April 1, 2017. Net earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2017 increased to $7.4 million, from $7.2 million in the same period a year ago. Insteel's results were favorably impacted by widening spreads between selling prices and raw material costs and lower operating expenses relative to the prior year quarter.
Net sales decreased 5.8 percent to $101.2 million from $107.4 million in the prior year quarter, reflecting a 6.9 percent decrease in shipments and a 1.1 percent increase in average selling prices. Shipments increased 5.6 percent sequentially from the first quarter of fiscal 2017 while average selling prices increased 2.0 percent.
As for an outlook for the rest of the year, H.O. Woltz III, Insteel's president and CEO, commented: “Looking ahead to the second half of fiscal 2017, we expect increasing shipments driven by continued growth in the construction sector together with the usual seasonal upturn in demand. Recent leading indicators for private construction are signaling further expansion, which should be supported by rising public construction activity later in the year.”