Reliance Steel today reported record sales in the third quarter but an earnings increase of only 0.4 percent.
The Reliance Steel Aluminum Company, which is headquartered in Los Angeles, says it’s the largest metals service center company in North America. Through a network of more than 300 locations in 39 states and 12 foreign countries, it provides metals processing services and distributes more than 100,000 metal products to more than 125,000 customers in a variety of industries.
Reliance said in an earnings statement that its third-quarter sales were a record $2.71 billion, up 10.7 percent from $2.44 billion in the third quarter of 2013 and up 3.4 percent from our its record sales of $2.62 billion in the second quarter of 2014.
But net income was $95.5 million, up 0.4 percent from $95.1 million in the third quarter of 2013 and down 1 percent from $96.5 million in the second quarter of 2014. Earnings per diluted share were $1.21, down 0.8 percent from $1.22 in both the third quarter of 2013 and the second quarter of 2014.
“We were very pleased with our operational performance during the third quarter of 2014,” said Reliance Chairman and CEO David H. Hannah. “Although the typical seasonal trend is for third quarter volume to decline from the second quarter, our tons sold were up 0.4 percent… Our increased volume reflects ongoing slow but steady improvement in customer demand.”
Hannah said he expects the U.S. economy to maintain its slow but steady recovery and was bullish about his company’s prospects.
“Looking at our balance sheet, we continue to operate from a position of financial strength, and have ample liquidity to continue executing our growth strategies to create long-term shareholder value,” he said. “Our healthy regular dividend and extension of our Share Repurchase Plan reflect our commitment to returning value to our shareholders.”
