Castle Reports Full-Year Sales Up 12%
By
Metal Center News Staff on
Mar 18, 2019 Volume and price increases helped
A. M. Castle & Co. generate net sales of $582 million in 2018, 12.2 percent increase over full-year 2017.
The Oak Brook, Ill.-based service center reported a net loss of $37.1 million last year, compared with net income of $22.9 million the year prior.
“One of our goals for 2018 was to continue to grow our top-line, and we have done that as demonstrated by our double-digit year-over-year revenue growth, driven by strong pricing and increased volumes for the majority of the year,” Castle Chairman and CEO Steve Scheinkman said. “In addition, our continued focus on improving our working capital efficiency is generating stronger operating results, which we believe will continue into 2019. The liquidity generated from both increased profitability performance and more effective working capital management are allowing us to make additional investments to support our valued business partners."
In the fourth quarter, net sales increased 11.7 percent year over year to $137.6 million. The company reported a net loss of $16.8 million in the quarter, compared with a net loss of $12.5 million in the year-ago period. Castle also reported a fourth-quarter operating loss of $9.3 million, compared with an operating loss of $11.7 million in fourth-quarter 2017.
“The momentum we saw in our operating performance and EBITDA growth throughout the first three quarters of 2018 and into the early fourth quarter dissipated somewhat late in the quarter when volumes are traditionally lower and as we moved some aged inventory out of our network,” Scheinkman said. “Even with that slowdown, however, we are pleased to have delivered year-over-year improvements in our fourth quarter and full year 2018 results and believe we have laid a solid operational foundation for continued success in 2019.”