Los Angeles, California-based Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. Thursday reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010. For the 2010 first quarter, Reliance reported net income of $44.7 million, up 122 percent from 2009 first quarter net income of $20.1 million. Earnings per diluted share were $.60 in the 2010 first quarter, up 122 percent from 2009 first quarter earnings per diluted share of $.27. Sales for the 2010 first quarter were $1.45 billion, down 7 percent from 2009 first quarter sales of $1.56 billion, and up 14 percent from 2009 fourth quarter sales of $1.27 billion.
Reliance's tons sold for the 2010 first quarter were down 2 percent from the 2009 first quarter and up 9 percent from the 2009 fourth quarter. Average prices per ton sold in the 2010 first quarter were down 5 percent compared to the 2009 first quarter and up 5 percent compared to the 2009 fourth quarter. For the 2010 first quarter, carbon steel sales were 52 percent of net sales; aluminum sales were 19 percent; stainless steel sales were 15 percent; alloy sales were 8 percent; other sales were 4 percent and toll processing sales were 2 percent.
"We continue to anticipate that demand for most of our products will recover slowly and steadily as the year progresses, with the exception of non-residential construction, where we expect some further weakness, although we believe we are close to the bottom," said David H. Hannah, Reliance Chairman and CEO. "We also expect pricing to remain at or near current levels during the 2010 second quarter, with the possibility of some downward pressure in the 2010 second half. One of the important catalysts for pricing in the second half will be the amount of real demand improvement, especially in light of some additional domestic carbon steel capacity entering the market at the producer level. This generally improving environment should allow us to continue to show modest improvements in our financial results for the 2010 second quarter."