Insteel Industries, Inc. today announced financial results for its first quarter ended December 30, 2017. Net earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2018 increased to $8.1 million from $4.5 million in the same period a year ago.
In a press release, the company said its first-quarter results were unfavorably impacted by narrower spreads between selling prices and raw material costs, partially offset by higher shipments and lower manufacturing costs on the higher production volume relative to the prior year quarter.
Net sales increased 4.1 percent to $97.7 million from $93.9 million in the prior year quarter, reflecting a 1.3 percent increase in shipments and a 2.8 percent increase in average selling prices.
Shipments increased 1.7 percent sequentially from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 while average selling prices decreased 0.8 percent due to competitive pricing pressures.
"We are encouraged by the improving demand trends during the first quarter following the weakness we experienced over the second half of fiscal 2017," commented H.O. Woltz III, Insteel's president and CEO. "As we move into the second quarter, however, we expect our results will be affected by the usual weather-related slowdown in construction activity. Looking ahead to the remainder of fiscal 2018, the leading indicators for the construction sector are signaling continued growth which should drive improvement in our volumes, spreads and costs. We also expect to benefit from our recent acquisition of Ortiz Engineered Products as we intensify our efforts to penetrate the rebar market with the substitution of engineered structural mesh for cast-in-place applications and leverage our newly combined engineering and sales capabilities."