Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based specialty steelmaker Allegheny Technologies Incorporated reported Q4 2012 sales of $1.1 billion and net income of $10.5 million, which includes a "special charge" or $8.8 million. The special charge reflects asset write-downs in the Engineered Products segment associated with consolidating casting facilities. Comparatively, in Q4 2011, ATI reported net income of $31.7 million on sales of $1.25 billion.
For the full year 2012, net income was $158.4 million on sales of $5.03 billion. For the full year 2011, net income was $214.3 million, on sales of $5.18 billion.
"The fourth quarter 2012 was negatively impacted by headwinds resulting from uncertain global economic conditions," said Rich Harshman, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We saw continued conservative inventory management throughout the supply chains of most of our major end markets. These actions appear to have been driven by near-term concerns about the US economy related to resolution of US fiscal policy issues and challenging economic conditions in Europe, Japan, and to a lesser extent China. While these headwinds are creating challenging short-term conditions, we remain optimistic about the long-term growth opportunities in many of our global markets."
"Although near-term global economic and US fiscal policy uncertainties remain, we are cautiously optimistic that business conditions will gradually improve as we move through 2013," Harshman continued. "We believe conditions in the first quarter, and perhaps the first half, of 2013 are likely to remain challenging.
"Looking beyond these near-term headwinds, we believe market conditions remain favorable for strong secular growth over the next three to five years in many of our key global markets. Aerospace build rates are expected to continue to increase and OEM backlogs remain at record levels. Demand for ATI's new products is expected to grow substantially as new technology airframe and jet engine deliveries increase...Global oil and gas exploration and production forecasts project spending to set a new record and upstream capital spending, especially in the US, is expected to grow."