Olympic Steel, Inc. announced financial results for the three months ended September 30, 2019. Third-quarter 2019 net sales of $384 million were 16 percent lower compared with $457 million in the third quarter of 2018. The company said in a press release that net sales were impacted by lower year-over-year shipping volumes and pricing within the carbon flat products segment.
Net income was approximately $591,000 in the 2019 third quarter, compared with $11.6 million in the same quarter of 2018. The company said its specialty metals flat products segment continued to profitably grow its market share while sales in the tubular and pipe products segment outperformed the market.
“While we anticipated the third quarter would be softer than the first half of the year, we are encouraged by the positive impact we are seeing from our strategy to diversify the business,” said Chief Executive Officer Richard T. Marabito. “Our specialty metals and pipe and tube businesses remained resilient in a challenging market environment. We also furthered our strategy of vertical integration during the third quarter through the acquisition of EZ Dumper, a manufacturer of hydraulic truck dump inserts. This is our second acquisition in 2019 of manufacturers of higher-margin, metal-intensive branded products, which offer a countercyclical offset to the pricing dynamics of the steel distribution business. McCullough Industries, which we acquired earlier this year, continues to exceed our expectations by delivering EBITDA margins well above the levels earned through traditional service center business.”