Wednesday, manufactured metal products company Worthington Industries, Inc. (WOR), reported a sharp decline in profit for its third quarter, negatively impacted by a 31% drop in revenues that reflected volume declines across all segments.
The Columbus, Ohio-based company's net earnings for the third quarter plunged to $1.55 million or $0.02 per share from $18.30 million or $0.23 per share in the prior-year quarter.
Quarterly results included a negative impact of $16.31 million in pre-tax restructuring charges, partially offset by an $8.33 million pre-tax gain on the sale of the company's Aegis Metal Framing joint venture, for a net negative impact of $0.04 on earnings per share. Prior year's quarterly results included $4.20 million in pre-tax restructuring charges that negatively impacted earnings per share by $0.03.
On average, six analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report loss of $0.01 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
In addition, the current quarter pre-tax loss of $19.64 million was more than offset by an income tax benefit due primarily to a change in the estimated annual effective tax rate.
Net sales for the quarter dipped to $501.1 million from $725.7 million in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had consensus revenue estimate of $597.10 million for the quarter.
Segment wise, steel processing segment quarterly net sales plunged 45% to $192.50 million from $350.40 million in the same quarter last year, due to sharply lower volumes. Net sales in the metal framing segment decreased 25% to $137.21 million from $182.80 million in the year-ago quarter, due to much lower volumes associated with slowing construction activity, while pressure cylinders segment net sales declined 15% to $117.53 million from $138.30 million in the prior-year quarter.
Operating loss for the quarter was $24.20 million, compared with operating income of $18.05 million in the corresponding quarter last year.
For the nine-month period, the company posted a net loss of $94.50 million or $1.20 per share, compared with net earnings of $53.21 million or $0.65 per share in the same period last year. Net sales for the nine months declined to $2.16 billion from $2.20 billion last year.
Worthington declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.17 per share, payable on March 29, 2009, to stockholders of record on March 15, 2009.
WOR closed Tuesday's trading at $8.71 on the NYSE.
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