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www.reuters.com/article/coMktNews/idU...UPDATE 2-Steelmaker Nucor's 4th-qtr profit falls, tops view
Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:39am EST Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single
NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Steelmaker Nucor Corp (NUE.N: Quote, Profile, Research)said on Thursday its fourth-quarter profit fell by 10 percent on higher raw materials costs, but its shares rose 6 percent as results beat Wall Street expectations.
Net earnings dropped to $364.8 million, or $1.26 per share, from $405.1 million, or $1.34 per share, in the same quarter last year, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said.
Analysts, on average, expected earnings per share of $1.21, according to Reuters Estimates.
In October, Nucor forecast fourth-quarter earnings below Wall Street estimates at the time because of higher raw material costs and weak demand from the automotive and housing sectors.
Net sales increased 27 percent to a record $4.40 billion from $3.47 billion. Average sales price per ton rose 9 percent.
But costs rose 36 percent to $3.62 billion, offseting its increases in steel prices and sales volumes.
Nucor said the average cost for scrap and scrap substitute -- the company's key raw material -- jumped 17 percent to $285 per ton in the quarter.
Nucor expects first-quarter earnings between $1.20 to $1.30 per share, helped by strength in the bar, beam and plate businesses, but warned that volatility in scrap prices remained a risk.