AK Steel Holding Corp. (AKS) Friday said it expects to incur a wider net loss in its third quarter ending September.
For the quarter, the company projects a net loss of $0.60 to $0.65 per share. On average, 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect a loss of $0.20 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
In the prior-year third quarter, the company's attributable net loss per share was $0.03.
AK Steel, which manufactures flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steels, expects its average per-ton selling price for the third quarter to be about 7 percent lower than for the preceding second quarter.
The reduction in average selling price is largely due to lower spot market prices for carbon steel products amid a decline in global economic and business conditions, reduced raw material surcharges due to lower raw material costs and a lower percentage of value-added products in the total mix of shipments stemming mainly from market seasonality.
West Chester, Ohio-based AK Steel expects its third quarter results to reflect about $29 million in planned major maintenance outage expense, compared to around $1 million in the second quarter.
The firm expects to record a non-cash tax expense of around $29 million or $0.26 per share for the third quarter. This tax expense is primarily attributable to a tax valuation allowance recorded by the company in the second quarter and the LIFO-related tax-planning strategies used to support the value of a portion of the company's remaining deferred tax assets.
AK Steel forecasts shipments of around 1,375,000 tons in the third quarter, a sequential increase of about 3 percent.
AKS is currently trading at $6.31, down 2.02 percent, om a volume of 3.84 million shares on the NYSE.
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