September 08, 2008

Universal stainless reports 2007 Q4 full year results

Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc announced that sales for the fourth quarter of 2007 were USD 49.6 million as compared with USD 55.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Its net income for the fourth quarter of 2007 was USD 4.4 million as compared with USD 6.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. Results for the fourth quarter of 2007 included USD 586,000 of other income from the receipt of import duties compared with USD 465,000 in the fourth quarter of 2006

For the full year 2007, sales rose to a record USD 229.9 million and net income increased to a record USD 22.5 million as compared to sales of USD 203.9 million and net income of USD 20.6 million in 2006.

Mr Dennis Oates president & CEO of Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc said that "Our fourth quarter sales reached the high end of our forecast which recognized volatile raw material costs and economic uncertainty as well as normal conservative year end order patterns. While we expected nickel to be the most volatile of our costs, the magnitude of its decline in December impacted our profitability for the quarter. Nickel prices have moved higher since then and we expect their volatility to continue.”

He said that "While there is caution in our marketplace due to ongoing concern about the US economy, the end markets we serve are global in scope and have solid backlogs going out for several years. Although our direct customers will continue to make periodic inventory adjustments, we expect to see improving trends through the balance of the year. We also expect our cash flow to remain strong."

Mr Oates added that "We have entered 2008 with a high level of optimism about our prospects. To generate further growth, we are focused on quickly developing new business opportunities. Additionally, we are accelerating efforts to eliminate waste in our operations and enhance customer satisfaction."