Nucor Announces Third Quarter Earnings Guidance
09/15/2010 - Nucor says it is expecting to report results in the range of $0.05 to $0.10 per diluted share for the third quarter ending October 2, 2010, reflecting a general slowdown across all product lines.
Nucor Corp. announced this week it is expecting to report results in the range of $0.05 to $0.10 per diluted share for the third quarter ending October 2, 2010.
The projected $0.05 to $0.10 per diluted share compares to earnings of $0.29 per diluted share in the previous quarter (Q2-2010), earnings of $0.10 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2010, and a loss of $0.10 per diluted share in the year-ago third quarter (Q3-2009).
Projected results include an estimated LIFO charge of $67 million, which compares to charges of $67 million in the previous quarter (Q2-2010), $24 million in the first quarter of 2010, and a credit of $120 million in the year-ago third quarter (Q3-2009). The estimated quarterly LIFO charge is higher than the charge of $45.5 million the company projected at the time of its qualitative guidance.
Excluding LIFO, the company’s third-quarter performance is an improvement over the first quarter but down significantly from the second quarter due to lower margins caused by higher scrap costs and the inability to pass along these price increases.
In late July, when the company gave its qualitative guidance, the company stated that “the continuation of the upward trend experienced through the first half of the year is by no means clear at present. There is a general slowdown taking place across all product lines as the overall economy has entered into a new period of uncertainty.”
The company noted that third-quarter results ‘will unfortunately confirm these concerns, and a general slowdown has indeed occurred from second quarter, particularly in our flat rolled business.’
The company said that the most challenging markets for its products continue to be those associated with residential and non-residential construction, which ‘continue to show little, if any, strength.’
The company said this was particularly true for its downstream businesses.
Nucor and affiliates manufacture steel products, with operating facilities primarily in the U.S. and Canada. Products produced include carbon and alloy steel bars, beams, sheet and plate; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; steel fasteners; metal building systems; light gauge steel framing; steel grating and expanded metal; and wire and wire mesh. Nucor, through The David J. Joseph Company, also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and HBI/DRI; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap. Nucor is North America's largest recycler.
