Business
Friedman Industries, Incorporated Announces Third Quarter Results and Provides Near-Term Outlook
LONGVIEW, Texas, Feb. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Friedman Industries, Incorporated (NYSE American: FRD) announced today its results of operations for the
About this update from Friedman Industries Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"LONGVIEW, Texas, Feb. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Friedman Industries, Incorporated (NYSE American: FRD) announced today its results of operations for the fiscal third quarter. For the quarter ended December 31, 2022 (the “2022 quarter”), the Company recorded net earnings of $1,375,893 ($0.19 diluted earnings per share) on sales of $111,860,093 compared to a net loss of $2,961,833 ($0.45 diluted loss per share) on net sales of $51,655,943 for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 (the “2021 quarter”). The 2022 quarter saw a significant increase in sales driven by volume growth from approximately 39,000 tons for the 2021 quarter to approximately 113,000 tons for the 2022 quarter. Sales volume increased due primarily to a combination of the East Chicago, Indiana and Granite City, Illinois facilities that were acquired in April 2022 and the new Sinton, Texas facility commencing operations in October 2022. These facilities combined represent approximately 62,000 tons of the 74,000 ton volume growth. Entering the 2022 quarter, hot-rolled coil (“HRC”) prices had seen an overall declining trend since April 2022. As a result, margins were compressed during the 2022 quarter. The declining HRC price continued until December 2022 when price increases from several domestic steel producers caused prices to stabilize and then increase to end the 2022 quarter. The shift in HRC pricing came too late in the 2022 quarter to have much impact on margins; however, third quarter margins improved from the preceding second quarter margins due to a combination of the decline in selling price slowing and the average cost of inventory declining due to inventory restocking at lower price levels. “We appear to have shifted from a declining price environment to an increasing price environment during the 2022 quarter,” said Michael J. Taylor, President and Chief Executive Officer. “An emphasis on inventory management, price risk management and close relationships with customers and suppliers helped us navigate a very challenging period with HRC price falling approximately 60% from April 2022 to December 2022. We are pleased to report profitable results for the 2022 quarter despite the challenging conditions. The 2022 quarter is also significant because our new Sinton, Texas facility commenced operations. The equipment is performing well, the employees are work...