Distributors/Service Centers
February 22, 2024
Ryerson back in black in fourth quarter
Written by Ethan Bernard
Ryerson Holding Corp.
| Fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 | 2023 | 2022 | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1,112.4 | $1,288.2 | -14% |
| Net earnings (loss) | $25.8 | ($24.1) | 207% |
| Per diluted share | $0.74 | ($0.65) | 214% |
| Twelve months ended Dec. 31 | |||
| Revenue | $5,108.7 | $6,323.6 | -19% |
| Net earnings (loss) | $145.7 | $391.0 | -63% |
| Per diluted share | $4.10 | $10.21 | -60% |
Ryerson swung to a net profit in the fourth quarter, though revenue declined from the same period last year.
The Chicago-based service center group posted net income attributable to Ryerson of $25.8 million in Q4’23 vs. a loss of $24.1 million a year earlier on revenue that slipped 13.6% to $1.11 billion.
“Revenue during the period was influenced by seasonally lower volumes and easing average selling prices, which decreased 5.9% to 450,000 tons and 5.2% to $2,472 per ton, respectively, compared to the third quarter of 2023,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
A breakdown of shipments and average selling prices is shown below.
| Tons shipped (in thousands) | Q4’23 | Q3’23 | Q4’22 | Q/q change | Y/y change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon steel | 347 | 371 | 365 | -7% | -5% |
| Aluminum | 48 | 49 | 45 | -2% | 7% |
| Stainless steel | 52 | 55 | 52 | -6% | 0% |
| Average selling prices (per short ton) | |||||
| Carbon steel | $1,657 | $1,744 | $1,874 | -5% | -112% |
| Aluminum | $5,021 | $5,571 | $5,978 | -10 | -16% |
| Stainless steel | $5,212 | $5,527 | $6,019 | -6% | -13% |
Eddie Lehner, Ryerson’s president and CEO, said, “Fourth-quarter volumes decreased across most of our end-markets due to holiday seasonality and ongoing destocking across nonferrous product lines.”
He added that for full-year 2023, “our end-market volumes mainly increased in our commercial ground transportation and oil and gas end-markets, while decreasing across most other industrial and consumer end-markets.”
Looking to Q1’24, Ryerson said it “expects normal seasonal demand conditions, with customer shipments expected to increase approximately 8% to 10%, quarter over quarter.”
The company said it anticipates Q1 revenue to be “in the range of $1.21 to $1.25 billion, with average selling prices increasing 1-3%.”
