Welcome to the Business Journal Archives
Search for articles below, or continue to the all new BusinessJournalDaily.com now.
Search
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Nets $62.5M for 2004
WHEELING, W.Va. -- Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. officials today reported net income of $62.5 million, or $5.68 per diluted share for 2004 as well as announced plans for a $14.5 million upgrade at its 80-inch Hot Strip Mill.Wheeling-Pittsburgh is a subsidiary of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corp.Net income for the fourth quarter of 2004 totaled $6.4 million, or 46 cents per diluted share compared with a net loss of $23.7 million, or $2.49 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2003, and net income of $35.6 million, or $3.42 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2004. Comparison with prior year results is not meaningful, officials said, because of the company's reorganization on Aug. 1, 2003. "Our strong financial performance in 2004 and successful secondary public stock offering significantly strengthened our liquidity as we entered 2005," said James G. Bradley, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Additionally, production from our new Consteel electric arc furnace, which began operation in the fourth quarter and is exceeding the manufacturer's production guarantee, is bringing about our transition to a hybrid steel producer."The company reported net sales for 2004 of $1.4 billion on shipments of 2.1 million tons, with an average steel price per ton shipped of $661. Cost of goods sold in 2004 totaled $1.2 billion, averaging $568 per ton shipped. Net sales for the fourth quarter were $373.7 million on shipments of 503,000 tons of steel products. Steel prices averaged $743 per ton shipped in the fourth quarter of 2004, down slightly from the third quarter.The Hot Strip Mill upgrade involves the addition of automatic roll changers. The $14.5 million project is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year and will improve productivity and increase the mill's capacity from 2.8 million tons to 3.2 million tons per year, according to Harry L. Page, vice president of engineering, technology and metallurgy.The automatic roll changers will be installed on the mill's six finishing stands, reducing the time needed to change rolls from as much as 40 minutes to 8 to 10 minutes per roll change. On average, rolls are changed between four and six times during each 24 hours of running time, Page noted."The installation of the automatic roll changers is another significant step in our program to improve the efficiency of our primary operations," Page commented. "In 2000, we added additional segments to our twin strand caster that increased its productivity. The addition of our electric arc furnace will improve our steelmaking productivity. The installation of the automatic roll changers will allow us to roll our full output from the caster, while also providing us with the opportunity to convert purchased slabs or toll roll slabs for others."The majority of the automatic roll changer installation will be conducted during regularly scheduled weekly downturns at the mill. This will include all excavation and installation of equipment in front of the mill. Machining work on the finishing stands themselves will be done during a 10-day outage scheduled for the fourth quarter, he added.Visit Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp.: www.wpsc.com"