AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) had a net loss of $74.6 million in 2009 and net income of $4 million in 2008, according to the company. Last year’s earnings were part of its quarterly financial report posted Tuesday.
“Outside the one-time charges really the results were driven by extraordinarily high raw material costs, including primarily iron ore, coal and scrap,” said Alan McCoy, an AK Steel spokesman.
Last quarter, AK had a net loss of $98.3 million, compared to net income of $39.8 million for the same quarter of 2009.
During a conference call Tuesday, James Wainscott, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said, “From a big picture standpoint, we currently find ourselves somewhere between recession and recovery. Nonetheless, I believe that AK Steel is on the road to recovery.” The conference call about the report can be accessed online by going to www.aksteel.com.
In December, AK announced that this year it would close its coke plant in Ashland, Ky., where it also has a steel plant, causing a before tax charge of $63.7 million. AK also reached a settlement involving retiree health care benefits of its steel plant in Butler, Pa., that cost AK $9.1 million before taxes during the quarter, according to the report.
If these two special charges were taken out of account, AK said its net loss in the last quarter would have been $54.5 million after taxes, which would have beat estimates by investor analysts of a loss between 50 and 71 cents per share, according to Yahoo! Finance.
The total loss for 2010 of $1.17 per share also was above the average analyst estimate of 68 cents lost a share.
AK Steel operates seven steel-producing facilities, including Middletown Works.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or clevingston@coxohio.com.
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