Mount Airy, North Carolina-based Insteel Industries, Inc. reported Thursday net earnings of $3.7 million, for Q2 of fiscal 2013 compared with $300,000 in the same period a year ago.
Insteel's financial results for Q2 of fiscal 2013 improved drastically due to widening spreads between selling prices and raw material costs relative to the prior year quarter. Capacity utilization for the quarter was 46 percent, which was unchanged from Q1 of fiscal 2013 and the prior year quarter.
Net sales for fiscal Q2 2013 decreased 4.8 percent to $82.9 million from $87 million in the same period a year ago. Shipments decreased 1.5 percent from the prior year quarter while average selling prices decreased 3.4 percent. On a sequential basis, shipments decreased 3.7 percent from Q1 of fiscal 2013 while average selling prices increased 0.2 percent. The reduction in shipments for the quarter was largely driven by adverse weather conditions in most of Insteel's markets.
For the first six months of fiscal 2013, net earnings were $6.1 million, compared with essentially breakeven results in the same period a year ago. Net sales for the first six months of fiscal 2013 decreased 1.8 percent to $168.8 million from $171.8 million in the same period a year ago. Shipments increased 2 percent from the prior year period and average selling prices decreased 3.7 percent.
"As we move into the second half of the year, the most recent macro data implies that conditions in our construction end-markets are gradually improving and customer sentiment appears to be on the rise," commented H.O. Woltz III, Insteel's president and CEO. "We expect that our financial results will be favorably impacted by the usual seasonal upturn in demand together with our ongoing performance improvement initiatives and the increasing contributions from the Ivy acquisition."