Olympic Steel Inc (ZEUS) saw its loss narrow to $2.10 million, or $0.19 a share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. In the previous year period, the company reported a loss of $4.99 million, or $0.45 a share. Revenue during the quarter grew 7.33 percent to $254.90 million from $237.50 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 96 basis points over the previous year period to 8.88 percent. Operating margin for the quarter stood at negative 1.04 percent as compared to a negative 3.02 percent for the previous year period.
Operating loss for the quarter was $2.65 million, compared with an operating loss of $7.18 million in the previous year period.
"Despite another challenging year, we observed a definitive market swing during the fourth quarter," said chairman and chief executive officer Michael D. Siegal. "Pricing, demand and customer sentiment all improved as the quarter progressed." "Our commitment to customer performance earned us record market share during 2016, per MSCI data," Siegal added. "At the same time, our emphasis on continuous improvement led to reducing operating expenses by 3%, or $7 million, excluding 2015’s impairment charges." "The positive industry trends that began in last year’s fourth quarter have continued in the first quarter of 2017, validating optimism for the first half of this year," Siegal concluded.
Working capital increases
Olympic Steel Inc has recorded an increase in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $260.04 million as at Dec. 31, 2016, up 12.14 percent or $28.16 million from $231.89 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Current ratio was at 3.48 as on Dec. 31, 2016, down from 4.01 on Dec. 31, 2015.
Debt moves up
Olympic Steel Inc has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $166.42 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 12.08 percent or $17.93 million from $148.49 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Total debt was 29.93 percent of total assets as on Dec. 31, 2016, compared with 28.92 percent on Dec. 31, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was at 0.66 as on Dec. 31, 2016, up from 0.58 as on Dec. 31, 2015. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
