Maverick Tube reports strong Q1 earnings

St. Louis-based tubular product manufacturer Maverick Tube Corp. reported first quarter fiscal results this week. The company's net earnings for the quarter were $70.9 million, $1.80 per share, compared to earnings of $31.2 million, or $0.72 per share, earned in the year ago period. Net sales rose to $543.1 million, a 32.2 percent increase from net sales in Q1 '05. Maverick's year-on-year gains were largely due to the strength of the company's energy product sector. Maverick president and CEO C. Robert Bunch stated, "We had especially strong performances by Maverick Tubular Products, our U.S. OCTG and line pipe business, as well as TuboCaribe, our Latin American OCTG business, and Precision Tube, our coiled tubing business. In addition, Prudential, our Canadian OCTG and line pipe business, had another outstanding quarter." Mr. Bunch continued, "While we expect our second quarter to be impacted by the typical seasonal decline in Canadian drilling activity, we remain very optimistic about the balance of 2006. We believe global drilling activity will remain robust and that Maverick will continue to benefit from the growth and other initiatives we've completed over the last few years." Maverick is a leading provider OCTG, line pipe, coiled tubing, and coiled line pipe for the oil and gas drilling industries.