Portland, Oregon based scrap recycler, steelmaker and auto parts recycler Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. reported on Tuesday a net income of $10 million for its fourth fiscal quarter of 2009, ended August 31, 2009.
Schnitzer's Q4 profit is an improvement from the $2 million net loss incurred in the third fiscal quarter.
Net revenues for Q4 totaled $556 million, which is up from $412 million in Q3 and down from $1.314 billion in Q4 2008.
"We are pleased to report that all three operating businesses reported positive operating income and showed their third consecutive sequential improvement in quarterly results, resulting in a profitable fourth quarter," said Tamara Lundgren, president and CEO.
"The performance by our Metals Recycling Business was driven by broad-based demand from the export markets, indicative of the economic recovery and continuing infrastructure-related growth in our primary export markets in Asia. Sales volumes were strong, just off the record volumes in the fourth quarter of last year. We were able to increase these sales volumes and improve profitability despite on-going domestic challenges in the cost of raw materials and a weak US domestic economy. Our Auto Parts Business benefited from an improvement in the flow of scrapped vehicles and higher commodity prices, and our Steel Manufacturing Business took advantage of customer inventory restocking to increase production and sales volumes and achieve positive operating income," she continued.
"Looking ahead to fiscal 2010, we continue to be encouraged by the level of economic activity in the primary overseas markets served by our Metals Recycling Business. We expect our October 2nd acquisition in the Auto Parts Business to enhance our self-service used auto parts platform while increasing the benefits from vertical integration with our Metals Recycling Business. To be sure, challenges remain, as the weak US domestic economy continues to negatively impact both the demand for finished steel products as well as the flow of recycled metals. However, we believe our export platform and strong balance sheet have positioned us well to take advantage of growth opportunities during 2010 and beyond," Lundgren concluded.