Nucor Corporation announced consolidated net earnings of $501.8 million for the first quarter of 2019. By comparison, Nucor reported consolidated net earnings of $646.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2018 and $354.2 million for the first quarter of 2018. Net sales in Q1 totaled $6.09 billion, compared to $5.57 billion in the first quarter of 2018.
In a statement, the company said that as expected, earnings from Nucor’s steel mills segment in the first quarter of 2019 decreased from the fourth quarter of 2018 primarily due to lower average selling prices and margins for sheet products. In addition, the company said unusually challenging winter conditions delayed shipments to certain construction customers of Nucor’s steel mills and steel products segments.
The company said performance of the raw materials segment decreased in the first quarter of 2019 as compared to the fourth quarter of 2018 due primarily to margin compression in Nucor's DRI businesses, which has experienced declining average selling prices since the fourth quarter of 2018.
As for an outlook for Q2, Nucor said earnings in the second quarter of 2019 are expected to be similar to the first quarter of 2019, excluding the gain on the sale of the equity method investment. The company added that performance of the steel mills segment in the second quarter of 2019 is anticipated to be consistent compared to the first quarter of 2019 as weakening margins for sheet and plate mill products are expected to be offset by improving margins for structural and bar mill products.
The company said the profitability of its steel products segment in the second quarter of 2019 is expected to significantly improve as compared to the first quarter of 2019, as typical seasonal patterns and improved weather conditions should benefit nonresidential construction markets.
Nucor said the performance of the raw materials segment is expected to decrease in the second quarter of 2019 as compared to the first quarter of 2019 due to further margin compression in the company's DRI businesses.