TimkenSteel reported Friday first-quarter net income of $6.9 million on net sales of $388.7 million.
First-quarter net sales decreased $0.8 million or 0.2 percent year-over-year and 4.8 percent sequentially. Shipped tons were approximately 271,000, an increase of 8.4 percent over the first quarter of 2014 and 0.3 percent sequentially.
Favorable demand in the industrial and automotive end markets primarily drove the increased shipments over first-quarter 2014 and sequentially. Demand for energy-related products was flat compared with the first quarter of 2014. Sequentially, energy was down, driven largely by an approximately 50 percent drop in US rig count.
EBIT was $11.2 million, a 75.2 percent decrease compared to adjusted EBIT for the same period a year ago and a 51.9 percent decrease sequentially. First-quarter EBITDA was unfavorable primarily due to timing related to raw material spread and manufacturing costs, partially offset by LIFO income.
The company said in the statement that it expects EBITDA in Q2 between break even and a loss of $15 million for the second quarter due to negative impact from the weakness in the oil and gas market and associated industrial markets; unfavorable manufacturing impacts due to lower melt utilization and inventory reduction efforts; and raw material spread to continue to negatively impact margins.