Mount Airy, North Carolina-based Insteel Industries, Inc. Thursday reported net earnings of $3.3 million for Q3 of fiscal 2013 compared with $0.9 million, in the same period a year ago.
Insteel said that its financial results for Q3 of fiscal 2013 were favorably impacted by widening spreads between selling prices and raw material costs, higher shipments and lower unit conversion costs relative to the prior year quarter. Capacity utilization for the quarter was 48 percent compared with 46 percent in Q2 of fiscal 2013 and 44 percent in the prior year quarter.
Net sales for Q3 increased 3.6 percent to $96.9 million from $93.6 million in the same period a year ago. Shipments increased 9.3 percent from the prior year quarter while average selling prices decreased 5.3 percent. On a sequential basis, shipments increased 21.7 percent from Q2 of fiscal 2013 while average selling prices decreased 3.9 percent.
For the first nine months of fiscal 2013, net earnings were $9.4 million compared to $1.0 million, a year ago. Net sales for the first nine months of fiscal 2013 rose slightly to $265.7 million from $265.4 million in the same period a year ago. Shipments increased 4.6 percent from the prior year period while average selling prices decreased 4.3 percent.
"Conditions in our construction end-markets have continued to gradually improve from historically depressed levels, although we have yet to see a significant pick up in momentum," commented H.O. Woltz III, Insteel's president and CEO. "We believe the rate of recovery will remain modest until there is more meaningful and sustained growth in the overall economy and in the employment market."