Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. Reports 2010 Fourth Quarter and Year End Financial Results; Q4 EPS - $.53; 2010 EPS - $2.61

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (NYSE:RS) reported today its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2010. For the 2010 fourth quarter, Reliance reported net income of $39.5 million, compared to 2009 fourth quarter net income of $92.1 million, and net income of $48.7 million for the 2010 third quarter. Earnings per diluted share were $.53 in the 2010 fourth quarter, compared with 2009 fourth quarter earnings per diluted share of $1.25, and $.65 for the 2010 third quarter. Sales for the 2010 fourth quarter were $1.58 billion, up 24% from 2009 fourth quarter sales of $1.27 billion, and down 4% from 2010 third quarter sales of $1.65 billion. The 2010 fourth quarter financial results include in cost of sales a pre-tax LIFO charge, or expense, of $10.0 million, compared with a pre-tax LIFO credit, or income, of $87.5 million in the 2009 fourth quarter.

For the 2010 year, net income was $194.4 million, up 31% from net income of $148.2 million for the 2009 year. Earnings per diluted share were $2.61 for the 2010 year, up 30% from earnings per diluted share of $2.01 for 2009. Sales for the 2010 year were $6.31 billion, up 19% from 2009 sales of $5.32 billion. The 2010 fiscal year financial results include in cost of sales a pre-tax LIFO charge, or expense, of $34.8 million, compared with a pre-tax LIFO credit, or income, of $305.0 million for the 2009 year. The LIFO adjustments, in effect, reflect cost of sales at current replacement costs.

Reliance's tons sold for the 2010 year were up 6% and the average price per ton sold was up 12% compared to 2009. For the 2010 year, carbon steel sales were 52% of revenues; aluminum sales were 18%; stainless steel sales were 16%; alloy sales were 8%; toll processing sales were 2% and other sales were 4%.

David H. Hannah, Chairman and CEO of Reliance said, "Our guidance for the 2010 fourth quarter did not anticipate the carbon steel price increases that were announced by the carbon steel producers consistently throughout December. Demand during the quarter was seasonably lower than the 2010 third quarter, but not by as much as we expected, as some customers purchased a little more during December to get ahead of further price increases. As a result, we sold a little more steel at generally higher prices and margins that resulted in the quarter finishing up better than we originally expected."

"Our strongest markets during 2010 were in energy, oil and gas; semiconductor and electronics; aerospace; agriculture and our toll processing business which is primarily related to the auto and appliance industries. Non-residential construction was our most difficult area last year," commented Hannah.

"Our balance sheet is strong, inventories are in line with demand, and our net debt-to-total capital ratio was only 23.5% at December 31, 2010; down from 24.7% at the end of the 2010 third quarter and 25.6% at the end of 2009. We have about $860 million available on our $1.1 billion credit facility and if we were to use it all, our net debt-to-total capital ratio would still be less than 40%," continued Hannah.

"Currently, the prices of most all the metals we sell are continuing on an upward trend. We expect pricing, in general, to remain at strong levels at least through the 2011 first quarter. The recent rapid price increases can cause changes in our customers' buying patterns that can make it difficult to determine what real end use demand is doing. While there is certainly some buying ahead of the announced increases we believe that real underlying demand is steadily improving, but not at a large or rapid rate. We expect this slow and steady growth pattern to continue as the year progresses. Given these expectations, 2011 looks like a much better year than 2010 and, at this time, we estimate earnings per diluted share in a range of $.90 to $1.00 for the 2011 first quarter," Hannah concluded.

On February 16, 2011, the Board of Directors increased the regular quarterly cash dividend by 20%, to $.12 per share from $.10 per share. The Board declared the 2011 first quarter cash dividend of $.12 per share of common stock payable on March 25, 2011 to shareholders of record March 4, 2011. The Company has paid regular quarterly dividends for 51 consecutive years and has increased its dividend 16 times since its 1994 IPO.

Reliance will host a conference call that will be broadcast live over the Internet (listen only mode) regarding the fourth quarter and 12 months financial results for the period ended December 31, 2010. All interested parties are invited to listen to the web cast on February 17, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time at: http://www.rsac.com on the Investor Information section or http://www.streetevents.com. Player format: Windows Media and RealPlayer. The web cast will remain on the Reliance web site at: www.rsac.com on the Investor Information section through March 17, 2011 and a printed transcript will be posted on the Reliance web site after the completion of the conference call.

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., headquartered in Los Angeles, California, is the largest metals service center company in North America. Through a network of more than 200 locations in 38 states and Belgium, Canada, China, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, the Company provides value-added metals processing services and distributes a full line of over 100,000 metal products to more than 125,000 customers in a broad range of industries.

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.'s press releases and additional information are available on the Company's web site at www.rsac.com. The Company was named to the 2010 "Fortune 500" List, the 2009 Forbes "America's Best Managed Companies" List, the 2010 Fortune List of "The World's Most Admired Companies," and the 2009 Forbes "Platinum 400 List of America's Best Big Companies."

This release may contain forward-looking statements. Actual results and events may differ materially as a result of a variety of factors, many of which are outside of Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.'s control. Risk factors and additional information are included in Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.'s reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.'s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2010, June 30, 2010 and September 30, 2010.



RELIANCE STEEL & ALUMINUM CO.

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)

                 Three Months                          Twelve Months

                 Ended December 31,                    Ended December 31,

                 2010               2009               2010               2009

Income
Statement
Data:

Net sales        $ 1,584,337        $ 1,273,246        $ 6,312,795        $ 5,318,132

Gross              393,851            405,725            1,584,908          1,399,521
profit1

Operating          78,162             122,718            360,721            250,392
income

Pre-tax            60,471             112,849            296,428            195,493
income

Net income
attributable       39,454             92,070             194,353            148,158
to Reliance

Diluted
earnings per
share            $ 0.53             $ 1.25             $ 2.61             $ 2.01
attributable
to Reliance
shareholders

Weighted
average
shares             74,778,975         73,919,206         74,472,380         73,701,979
outstanding
- diluted

Gross profit       24.9       %       31.9       %       25.1       %       26.3       %
margin1

Operating
income             4.9        %       9.6        %       5.7        %       4.7        %
margin

Pre-tax
income             3.8        %       8.9        %       4.7        %       3.7        %
margin

Net income
margin -           2.5        %       7.2        %       3.1        %       2.8        %
Reliance

Cash
dividends        $ 0.10             $ 0.10             $ 0.40             $ 0.40
per share



                                                December 31,       December 31,

                                                2010               2009

            Balance Sheet and Other Data:

            Current assets                      $ 1,700,897        $ 1,390,904

            Working capital                       1,192,302          973,335

            Property, plant and equipment,        1,025,305          981,259
            net

            Total assets                          4,668,893          4,306,777

            Current liabilities                   508,595            417,569

            Long-term debt                        855,085            849,375

            Total Reliance shareholders'          2,823,732          2,606,432
            equity

            Capital expenditures                  111,356            69,901

            Cash provided by operations           214,087            942,996

            Net debt-to-total capital2            23.5      %        25.6      %

            Return on Reliance                    7.5       %        6.1       %
            shareholders' equity3

            Current ratio                         3.3                3.3

            Book value per share4               $ 37.83            $ 35.34



1 Gross profit, calculated as Net sales less Cost of sales, and Gross profit margin, calculated as Gross profit divided by Net sales, are non-GAAP financial measures as they exclude depreciation and amortization expense associated with the corresponding sales. The majority of our orders are basic distribution with no processing services performed. For the remainder of our sales orders, we perform "first-stage" processing which is generally not labor intensive as we are simply cutting the metal to size. Because of this, the amount of related labor and overhead, including depreciation and amortization, are not significant and are excluded from our Cost of sales. Therefore, our Cost of sales is primarily comprised of the cost of the material we sell. We use Gross profit and Gross profit margin as shown above as measures of operating performance. Gross profit and Gross profit margin are important operating and financial measures, as fluctuations in our Gross profit margin can have a significant impact on our earnings. Gross profit and Gross profit margin, as presented, are not necessarily comparable with similarly titled measures for other companies.

2 Net debt-to-total capital is calculated as total debt (net of cash) divided by total Reliance shareholders' equity plus total debt (net of cash).

3 Calculations are based on the latest twelve months net income and beginning total Reliance shareholders' equity.

4 Book value per share is calculated as total Reliance shareholders' equity divided by issued and outstanding common shares.

RELIANCE STEEL & ALUMINUM CO.

UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In thousands, except share amounts)

ASSETS

                                               December 31,        December 31,

                                               2010                2009

Current assets:

Cash and cash equivalents                      $ 72,915            $ 43,002

Accounts receivable, less allowance for
doubtful accounts of $17,221 at December         697,033             533,871
31, 2010 and $21,269 at December 31, 2009

Inventories                                      860,215             719,915

Prepaid expenses and other current assets        42,442              37,855

Income taxes receivable                          28,292              54,020

Deferred income taxes                            --                  2,241

Total current assets                             1,700,897           1,390,904

Property, plant and equipment:

Land                                             137,140             131,009

Buildings                                        594,329             543,590

Machinery and equipment                          898,077             829,154

Accumulated depreciation                         (604,241  )         (522,494  )

                                                 1,025,305           981,259

Goodwill                                         1,109,600           1,081,324

Intangible assets, net                           755,768             726,255

Cash surrender value of life insurance           42,011              92,860
policies, net

Investments in unconsolidated entities           18,274              20,880

Other assets                                     17,038              13,295

Total assets                                   $ 4,668,893         $ 4,306,777

LIABILITIES AND EQUITY

Current liabilities:

Accounts payable                               $ 244,988           $ 169,113

Accrued expenses                                 45,774              55,927

Accrued compensation and retirement costs        85,065              67,012

Accrued insurance costs                          36,972              39,134

Current maturities of long-term debt and         86,232              86,383
short-term borrowings

Deferred income taxes                            9,564               --

Total current liabilities                        508,595             417,569

Long-term debt                                   855,085             849,375

Long-term retirement costs                       74,749              69,277

Other long-term liabilities                      27,787              26,537

Deferred income taxes                            372,563             335,897

Commitments and contingencies

Equity:

Preferred stock, no par value:

Authorized shares -- 5,000,000

None issued or outstanding                       --                  --

Common stock, no par value:

Authorized shares -- 100,000,000

Issued and outstanding shares --
74,639,223 at December 31, 2010 and              624,732             587,612
73,750,771 at December 31, 2009, stated
capital

Retained earnings                                2,188,725           2,020,343

Accumulated other comprehensive income           10,275              (1,523    )
(loss)

Total Reliance shareholders' equity              2,823,732           2,606,432

Noncontrolling interests                         6,382               1,690

Total equity                                     2,830,114           2,608,122

Total liabilities and equity                   $ 4,668,893         $ 4,306,777





RELIANCE STEEL & ALUMINUM CO.

UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME

(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)

                   Three Months                          Twelve Months

                   Ended December 31,                    Ended December 31,

                   2010               2009               2010               2009

Net sales          $ 1,584,337        $ 1,273,246        $ 6,312,795        $ 5,318,132

Costs and
expenses:

Cost of sales
(exclusive of
depreciation         1,190,486          867,521            4,727,887          3,918,611
and
amortization
shown below)

Warehouse,
delivery,
selling,             283,988            253,975            1,103,584          1,030,245
general and
administrative

Depreciation
and                  31,701             29,032             120,603            118,884
amortization

                     1,506,175          1,150,528          5,952,074          5,067,740

Operating            78,162             122,718            360,721            250,392
income

Other income
(expense):

Interest             (15,169    )       (15,593    )       (61,175    )       (67,523    )

Other
(expense)            (2,522     )       5,724              (3,118     )       12,624
income, net

Income before        60,471             112,849            296,428            195,493
income taxes

Income tax           19,699             20,582             98,579             46,317
provision

Net income           40,772             92,267             197,849            149,176

Less: Net
income
attributable         1,318              197                3,496              1,018
to
noncontrolling
interests

Net income
attributable       $ 39,454           $ 92,070           $ 194,353          $ 148,158
to Reliance

Earnings per
share:

Diluted
earnings per
common share       $ 0.53             $ 1.25             $ 2.61             $ 2.01
attributable
to Reliance
shareholders

Weighted
average shares       74,778,975         73,919,206         74,472,380         73,701,979
outstanding -
diluted

Basic earnings
per common
share              $ 0.53             $ 1.25             $ 2.62             $ 2.02
attributable
to Reliance
shareholders

Weighted
average shares       74,538,999         73,607,423         74,230,452         73,445,583
outstanding -
basic

Cash dividends     $ 0.10             $ 0.10             $ 0.40             $ 0.40
per share



RELIANCE STEEL & ALUMINUM CO.

UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(In thousands)

                                               Year Ended December 31,

                                               2010               2009

Operating activities:

Net income                                     $ 197,849          $ 149,176

Adjustments to reconcile net income to
net cash provided by operating
activities:

Depreciation and amortization expense            120,603            118,884

Deferred income tax expense                      42,724             58,016

Loss on sales of property, plant and             1,148              138
equipment

Equity in earnings of unconsolidated             (724     )         (1,395     )
entities

Dividends received from unconsolidated           320                1,120
entities

Share based compensation expense                 17,334             15,530

Excess tax benefit from share based              (4,039   )         (1,533     )
compensation

Net loss (gain) from life insurance              4,217              (10,482    )
policies

Changes in operating assets and
liabilities (excluding effect of
businesses acquired):

Accounts receivable                              (146,743 )         322,163

Inventories                                      (121,857 )         569,943

Prepaid expenses and other assets                23,867             (56,439    )

Accounts payable and other liabilities           79,388             (222,125   )

Net cash provided by operating activities        214,087            942,996

Investing activities:

Purchases of property, plant and                 (111,356 )         (69,901    )
equipment

Acquisitions of metals service centers,          (100,325 )         --
net of cash acquired and debt assumed

Proceeds from sales of property, plant           3,160              1,284
and equipment

Net borrowings from (investment in) life         42,406             (31,544    )
insurance policies

Net proceeds from redemption of life             4,332              6,576
insurance policies

Net cash used in investing activities            (161,783 )         (93,585    )

Financing activities:

Net short-term debt borrowings                   3,157              133

Proceeds from long-term debt borrowings          539,000            352,000

Principal payments on long-term debt             (560,580 )         (1,183,301 )

Debt issuance costs                              --                 (6,841     )

Payments to noncontrolling interest              (1,778   )         (2,057     )
holders

Capital contributions from noncontrolling        142                --
interests

Dividends paid                                   (29,692  )         (29,383    )

Excess tax benefit from share based              4,039              1,533
compensation

Exercise of stock options                        21,248             10,490

Issuance of common stock                         --                 258

Noncontrolling interests purchased               --                 (2,661     )

Net cash used in financing activities            (24,464  )         (859,829   )

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash          2,073              1,425

Increase (decrease) in cash and cash             29,913             (8,993     )
equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of        43,002             51,995
year

Cash and cash equivalents at end of year       $ 72,915           $ 43,002

Supplemental cash flow information:

Interest paid during the year                  $ 62,176           $ 76,050

Income taxes paid during the year              $ 68,908           $ 49,099

Non-cash investing and financing
activities:

Debt assumed in connection with                $ 22,597           $ --
acquisitions of metals service centers



    Source: Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.