Guadalajara, Mexico-based Grupo Simec announced Monday net income of 685 million pesos (US$51.2 million) in Q3 2011, compared to 478 million pesos (US$37.7 million) in the previous quarter, and up more than four-fold from 153 million pesos (US$11.4 million) in Q3 2010. Grupo Simec is a holding company which focuses on steel manufacturing, processing and distribution of primarily structural steel and SBQ products.
Higher steel sales accounted for the increase in Q3 profit for Grupo Simec, which reported 7.6 million pesos (US$568,000) in sales in Q3 2011, a 7 percent increase from the previous quarter and a 24 percent jump from Q3 2010. Higher selling prices spurred the increased sales, as tons sold were little changed between Q2 and Q3. Average per-ton prices of SBQ steel were 14,645 pesos (US$1,095) compared to 13,269 pesos (US$992) in Q2 and 13,392 pesos (US$1,001) in Q3 2011.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2011, total sales were up 13 percent over the same period last year to 21.4 million pesos (US$1.6 million) although tons sold were only up 1 percent year-on-year.