Mount Airy, North Carolina-based Insteel Industries, Inc. reported Thursday net earnings of $0.8 million for Q4 of fiscal 2012, compared with $1 million in the same period a year ago. Insteel's financial results for fiscal Q4 2012 were unfavorably impacted by narrower spreads between selling prices and raw material costs relative to the prior year period. Demand for Insteel's products remained at depressed levels due to continued weakness in its construction end markets, according to a press release from the company. Insteel's capacity utilization for the quarter was 48 percent compared with 44 percent in the third quarter of fiscal 2012 and 49 percent in the prior year quarter.
Net sales for Q4 of fiscal 2012 decreased 1.2 percent to $97.9 million from $99.1 million in the same period a year ago. Even though shipments increased 4.1 percent from the prior year quarter, average selling prices decreased 5.1 percent. On a sequential basis, shipments increased 6.8 percent from fiscal Q3 2012 while average selling prices decreased 2.1 percent.
For fiscal 2012, net earnings were $1.8 million, compared with a net loss of $0.4 million in fiscal 2011.
Commenting on the outlook for fiscal 2013, Insteel's president and CEO, H.O. Woltz III said, "After showing signs of improvement earlier in the year, nonresidential construction, our primary demand driver, appears to have moderated in recent months. The heightened level of political and economic uncertainty has fostered a greater degree of conservatism throughout our supply chain, which is likely to persist through the first fiscal quarter. We also expect continued volatility in our raw material costs. In response to these challenges, we have intensified our pursuit of further cost reduction and performance improvement opportunities."
Woltz also said that Insteel's "expansion plans for our engineered structural mesh ("ESM") business are proceeding on schedule with the two new production lines expected to be commissioned during the second quarter of fiscal 2013."