Schnitzer boosts income in its 2018 fiscal year
Schnitzer boosts income in its 2018 fiscal year
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Portland, Oregon-based Schnitzer Steel Industries has reported $154 million in net income in its 2018 fiscal year, which concluded Aug. 31, 2018. That figure is 258 percent higher than the $43 million in net income the scrap recycling and steelmaking company earned in its 2017 fiscal year.
In its fiscal 2018 fourth quarter, Schnitzer’s Auto and Metals Recycling (AMR) business unit generated operating income of $34 million, or $33 per ferrous ton, which the company says is a 41 percent increase in operating income from the prior year’s fourth quarter.
“AMR’s improved operating income year-over-year was driven by expanded metal spreads, higher ferrous and nonferrous sales volumes of 19 percent and 11 percent, respectively, higher average ferrous and nonferrous selling prices of 23 percent and 8 percent, respectively, and a continued focus on productivity and commercial initiatives, including measures to increase supply flows,” states the firm.
Cascade Steel and Scrap (CSS), SSI’s steelmaking unit, generated fourth quarter operating income of $14 million, a 70 percent increase compared to the prior year’s fourth quarter operating income of $8 million. The company cites “an increase in finished steel average net selling prices of 31 percent, which significantly outpaced the increase in the cost of steelmaking raw materials and higher export sales volumes,” for the improved profitability.
“We delivered our best fourth quarter performance since fiscal 2011, capping a year which reflected our strongest full year financial and operating performance in seven years,” comments said Tamara Lundgren, SSI’s president and CEO. “For the full year, AMR achieved operating income per ferrous ton of $46, underpinned by volume increases and the resulting operating leverage generated from ongoing productivity initiatives.”
On the steelmaking side, “CSS also delivered excellent results, driven by higher prices and demand, metal spread expansion, low levels of imports, and benefits from productivity and efficiency investments,” says Lundgren.
“The combination of our strong profitability and effective working capital management enabled us to generate operating cash flow of $160 million in fiscal 2018, which allowed us to increase our investments in growth capex and return capital to our shareholders through both our dividend and share repurchases, while reducing our debt to its lowest level in the past eight years,” adds Lundgren.
The company is positioned to further upgrade its operations, says the CEO. “Looking forward, our strong balance sheet provides us with the ability to continue our investments in advanced processing technologies, environmental stewardship and transactional market opportunities, while continuing to return capital to our shareholders,” she comments.
The company says in fiscal 2018 the CSS operating performance “benefited from a higher [steel mill] utilization rate compared to the prior fiscal year and ongoing productivity improvements from the integration of our steel manufacturing and Oregon metal recycling operations, which took place in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017.”
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Source: Recycling Today
Schnitzer boosts income in its 2018 fiscal year
<![CDATA[Portland, Oregon-based Schnitzer Steel Industries has reported $154 million in net income in its 2018 fiscal year, which concluded Aug. 31, 2018. That figure is 258 percent higher than the $43 million in net income the scrap recycling and steelmaking company earned in its 2017 fiscal year.In its fiscal 2018 fourth quarter, Schnitzer’s Auto and Metals Recycling (AMR) business unit generated operating income of $34 million, or $33 per ferrous ton, which the company says is a 41 percent increase in operating income from the prior year’s fourth quarter.“AMR’s improved operating income year-over-year was driven by expanded metal spreads, higher ferrous and nonferrous sales volumes of 19 percent and 11 percent, respectively, higher average ferrous and nonferrous selling prices of 23 percent and 8 percent, respectively, and a continued focus on productivity and commercial initiatives, including measures to increase supply flows,” states the firm.Cascade Steel and Scrap (CSS), SSI’s steelmaking unit, generated fourth quarter operating income of $14 million, a 70 percent increase compared to the prior year’s fourth quarter operating income of $8 million. The company cites “an increase in finished steel average net selling prices of 31 percent, which significantly outpaced the increase in the cost of steelmaking raw…