Gerdau Ameristeel books huge 3Q profit gain

NEW YORK - Steel producer Gerdau Ameristeel Corp. said Wednesday its third-quarter profit more than doubled as prices climbed and revenue from newly acquired businesses boosted volumes, offsetting higher materials cost.

Net income for the three months ended Sept. 30 climbed to $316.9 million, or 73 cents per share, compared with $123.8 million, or 40 cents per share, in the year-earlier period, the Tampa, Fla.-based company said.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected, on average, earnings per share of 58 cents.

Sales soared 79 percent to $2.51 billion from $1.4 billion.

Finished steel shipments increased 305,000 to 2.1 million tons, mostly on the acquisition of Chaparral Steel in September 2007. Average mill finished steel selling prices jumped 60.1 percent.

The difference between mill selling prices and scrap raw material costs increased $222 per ton to $662 per ton, partly because of higher margin structural products from Chaparral.

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