Service Center News

A.M. Castle & Co., Oak Brook, Ill., reported net sales of $147.9 million in the second quarter, a 1.7 percent decline compared with the second quarter of 2018. The company reported a net loss of $8.3 million, largely flat with the second quarter last year.

First-half net sales totaled $297.5 billion, a modest increase compared with 2018. The specialty metals distributor reported a first-half net loss of $16.7 million, a 19.4 percent decline from the prior year.

"In light of the deteriorating market conditions in both demand and pricing experienced in the second quarter in many of the sectors we service, we are pleased by the resiliency of our efforts to continue to improve profitability. While our industrial-focused product lines faced head-winds, our aerospace business continued to remain strong," Chairman and CEO Steve Scheinkman said.

The company reported gross material margin of 25.7 percent was flat with both the first quarter and the second quarter of 2018.

“Coupled with the progress we have made in working capital management through the first half of 2019, we believe we are well-positioned to generate positive cash flow to invest in our business and reduce debt in the remainder of 2019," said President Marec Edgar. "We began to fully realize the impact of our new global supply organization in the second quarter. This included consistent reductions of aged inventory, improved overall stock levels, and real-time facilitation of our branches in moving higher cost inventory as certain markets softened, allowing us to avoid an overstocked position relative to the market and restock at lower replacement costs.”