Commercial Metals Company announced Monday financial results for its first quarter ended November 30, 2015. Net earnings attributable to CMC for the three months ended November 30, 2015 were $25.1 million ($0.21 per diluted share) on net sales of $1.2 billion. This compares to net earnings attributable to CMC of $32.2 million ($0.27 per diluted share) on net sales of $1.7 billion for the first quarter ended November 30, 2014.
Earnings from continuing operations for the first quarter of fiscal 2016 were $25.6 million ($0.22 per diluted share), compared with earnings from continuing operations of $34.3 million ($0.29 per diluted share) for the first quarter of fiscal 2015.
Joe Alvarado, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO, commented, "Our results for the first quarter of fiscal 2016 were generally consistent with our outlook from last quarter. Our Americas Fabrication segment achieved a $25.5 million improvement in adjusted operating profit during the first quarter of fiscal 2016 compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2015 benefiting from lower steel input prices and solid construction demand. In addition, compared to the same quarter in the prior year, our Americas Mills segment was able to expand metal margins as finished steel prices declined at a slower rate than ferrous scrap prices. However, our remaining segments continued to be adversely impacted by steel import activity into the U.S., weakness in scrap markets and decreased global demand and pricing for all major commodities. We are very pleased with our financial strength and our strong cash flow of $219.6 million during the quarter."
Alvarado concluded, "The recent passage of comprehensive infrastructure spending legislation, Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, or FAST, marked a significant achievement for the future infrastructure in the U.S. We expect that FAST will provide a guaranteed and predictable funding stream for state and local governments to plan and construct road, bridge, transit, freight and passenger rail projects for the next five years. Although we expect the new legislation to provide meaningful upside from a demand perspective, we do not anticipate the new spending provision will translate into steel orders for 12 months or more.
“Our second fiscal quarter has historically been seasonally slower as a result of holiday slowdowns and winter weather conditions, which reduce construction activities. We anticipate that market conditions will not improve materially over the short term, due to ongoing pressure from steel import activity into the U.S. and continued weakness in the scrap markets."