Bayou Steel reports third quarter earnings

Bayou Steel reports third quarter earnings

Louisiana steelmaker Bayou Steel Corp. announced third quarter 2005 net sales increased 14 percent due in large to a significant impact of increased billet yield. Net sales were $68.4 million for the third quarter 2005, an increase from the $59.3 million seen for the same period in 2004. Year-to-date net sales were reported as $194 million. Net income for the third quarter was reported as $5.2 million, or $2.59 per diluted share, a 15 percent decrease from the third quarter 2004, or $2.97 per diluted share. Year-to-date 2005 net income was $14.5 million. Jerry Pitts, president and CEO, said, "Bayou Steel continues to perform at a high level of profitability. Shipments during the quarter increased as our customers worked through their higher than normal inventories. Even though selling prices and margins have recently declined, selling prices and margins are still at very high levels." He went on to comment on Bayou's outlook, “The outlook for our products appears to be better for the second half of calendar 2005. Our metal margin, the difference between our selling prices and scrap raw material cost, remains near record levels although we expect the metal margin to be lower than the third fiscal quarter. Scrap continues to be volatile and is moving sharply upward. A competitor has recently announced a $45 per ton price increase effective September 1, 2005." Bayou Steel Corporation manufactures light structural and merchant bar products in LaPlace, Louisiana and Harriman, Tennessee. The Company also operates three stocking locations along the inland waterway system near Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Tulsa.