AK Steel announces Q1 financial results

AK Steel announces Q1 financial results

Ohio, US based steel producer AK Steel has recently announced financial results of first quarter ended on March 31, 2004. According to the report, AK Steel announced its net income as $165.4 million in the aforementioned quarter against the loss of $40.8 million recorded in the first quarter of 2003. Net sales of the company in the first quarter of 2004 totaled $1.13 billion on the shipments of 1'514'300 tons against sales of $985.3 million on shipments of 1'365'400 tons recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2003. A company official stated that rising demand increased shipments and prices. Moreover, the prices of the company increased as a result of the surcharges it implemented for spot market due to rising costs of energy and raw materials, especially scrap. The average sales price of flat products was $747 per ton in the first quarter of 2004, while the average price of the subject products was $702 per ton in the first quarter of 2003 and $671 per ton in the fourth quarter of 2003. Operating profit of AK Steel in the first quarter of 2004 is recorded as $1.5 million against the operating loss of $43.1 million recorded in the same quarter of 2003.