Stelco profit more than doubles

Hamilton steelmaker was expected to earn $2.72 per share on $872.2 million in revenues

Stelco Holdings Inc. beat expectations as it reported a strong quarter despite a challenging start to the year.

The Hamilton-based steelmaker says its net income for the first quarter more than doubled to $262 million or $3.52 per diluted share, from $119 million or $1.34 per share a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, adjusted profits were $268 million or $3.61 per share, up from $172 million or $1.94 per share in the first quarter of 2021.

Revenues for the three months ended March 31 increased 36 per cent to $906 million, from $665 million in the prior-year quarter.

Stelco was expected to earn $2.72 per share on $872.2 million in revenues, according to financial data firm Refinitiv.

Average selling prices increased 56 per cent to $1,493 per net ton from the prior year but were down 19 per cent from the fourth quarter.

“While in the early part of the first quarter we saw deterioration in both pricing and volume compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, we did experience some recovery commencing in the last month of the period,” stated chief financial officer Paul Scherzer in a news release.

Volumes decreased 12 per cent from a year ago to 594,000 net tons from 675,000 in the 2021 period and from 626,000 tons in the fourth quarter.