Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corp. reported net income of $8.1 million on net sales of $399.5 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2005.

The $8.1 million net income ($.56 per diluted share) compares to a reported net loss of $6.7 million ($(.71) per diluted share) for the first quarter of 2004, which was restated to reflect a change in accounting method relative to accounting for stock options.

Net sales of $399.5 million compare to net sales of $274.2 million for the first quarter of 2004. Excluding revenue from the sale of raw material, the average selling price of steel shipped was $739 per ton on steel shipments of 522,803 tons. This compares to an average selling price of $509 per ton of steel shipped during the first quarter of 2004 on steel shipments of 538,701 tons.

Cost of sales totaled $355.9 million, which compares to first quarter 2004 cost of sales of $256.1 million. The current cost of sales was adversely affected by increases in the cost of scrap, iron ore and metallurgical coal. Excluding the cost of raw material sold during the quarter and a one-time $4.4 million cost recovery item, cost of sales per ton of steel shipped was $675, which compares to $475 per ton of steel shipped in the year-ago first quarter.

Production and shipments were adversely affected as a result of the basic oxygen furnace ductwork collapse. The company is vigorously pursuing insurance claims for property damage and business interruption relative to this incident.

"While our 2005 first quarter was adversely impacted by recent industry developments, we feel these developments also validate key elements of our long-term business strategy which shifts a significant amount of our steelmaking capacity to electric arc furnace technology," said James G. Bradley, Chairman and CEO. "Our transition to EAF and blast furnace technology reduces our reliance on iron ore as world prices have increased and as scrap prices continue to moderate."

Bradley notes that the EAF recently introduced hot metal charging into the furnace last week, making it the only EAF in the Western Hemisphere to adopt this practice.

Wheeling-Pittsburgh is a steel company engaged in the making, processing and fabrication of steel and steel products using both integrated and electric arc furnace technology. Products include hot rolled and cold rolled sheet and coated products such as galvanized, pre-painted and tin mill sheet. The company also produces a variety of steel products including roll formed corrugated roofing, roof deck, floor deck, bridgeform and other products used primarily by the construction, highway and agricultural markets. Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corp. is the holding company of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp.