Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. Reports Third Quarter Results; Sales Up 33% and Net Income Up 17%

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (NYSE:RS) reported today its financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2010. For the 2010 third quarter, Reliance reported net income of $48.7 million, up 17%, compared to 2009 third quarter net income of $41.8 million. Earnings per diluted share were $.65 in the 2010 third quarter, up 14% compared to $.57 in the 2009 third quarter. Sales for the 2010 third quarter were $1.65 billion, up 33% from 2009 third quarter sales of $1.24 billion, and up 2% from 2010 second quarter sales of $1.62 billion. The 2010 third quarter financial results include in cost of sales a pre-tax LIFO charge, or expense, of $9.75 million, compared with a pre-tax LIFO credit, or income, of $67.5 million for the 2009 third quarter. The LIFO adjustments, in effect, reflect cost of sales at current replacement costs.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2010, net income amounted to $154.9 million, up 176% compared to 2009 nine-month net income of $56.1 million. Earnings per diluted share were $2.08 for the nine months ended September 30, 2010, compared with earnings of $.76 per diluted share for the nine months ended September 30, 2009. Sales for the 2010 nine months were $4.73 billion, up 17% from 2009 nine-month sales of $4.04 billion. The 2010 nine months financial results include in cost of sales a pre-tax LIFO charge, or expense of $24.75 million, compared with a pre-tax LIFO credit, or income of $217.5 million in the 2009 nine months.

Reliance's tons sold for the 2010 third quarter were up 11% from the 2009 third quarter and up 1% from the 2010 second quarter. Average prices per ton sold in the 2010 third quarter were up 20% compared to the 2009 third quarter and up 1% compared to the 2010 second quarter. For the 2010 third quarter, carbon steel sales were 52% of net sales; aluminum sales were 18%; stainless steel sales were 16%; alloy sales were 8%; other sales were 4% and toll processing sales were 2%.

David H. Hannah, Chairman and CEO of Reliance said, "The operating environment during the 2010 third quarter was pretty steady with the 2010 second quarter. Mill pricing declined a bit more than we had anticipated during the quarter, pressuring our selling prices and causing our gross profit margins to narrow somewhat. Demand was a little better than we had expected as we typically see a seasonal decline in the third quarter compared to the second quarter. Overall we are pleased with our performance during the quarter in light of the existing market conditions."

"Our balance sheet continues to be strong with our net debt-to-capital ratio at 25% as of September 30, 2010. We generated cash from operations of $83 million in the 2010 third quarter due to our stable profit levels and stringent working capital management," stated Hannah.

"The non-residential construction market is still our weakest end market, and below even last year's poor levels. It appears, though, that we have reached bottom. Business activity in most all of our other markets is better than a year ago; especially in the semiconductor and electronics, energy, agriculture, and aerospace industries. Acquisition opportunities have also improved," continued Hannah.

"In the 2010 fourth quarter, we expect demand to decline somewhat due to normal holiday closures at our customers and we expect pricing to be steady to down for most products that we sell. Given these expectations, at this time, we estimate earnings per diluted share in a range of $.35 to $.45 for the 2010 fourth quarter," Hannah concluded.

On October 1, 2010, Reliance acquired the outstanding capital securities of Diamond Consolidated Industries, Inc. and affiliated companies. The operating entities consist of Diamond Manufacturing Company located in Wyoming, Pennsylvania and Diamond Manufacturing Midwest in Michigan City, Indiana that specialize in the manufacture and sale of specialty engineered perforated materials; Perforated Metals Plus, a distributor of perforated metals located in Charlotte, North Carolina; and Dependable Punch Corporation, a manufacturer of custom punches for tools and dies also located in Wyoming, Pennsylvania. The original business was founded in 1915. Primary end markets are agriculture; office equipment; electronics; appliance; automotive and architectural. The combined sales of Diamond and its affiliated companies for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 were approximately $75 million.

On October 20, 2010, the Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $.10 per share of common stock. The dividend is payable on December 22, 2010 to shareholders of record December 3, 2010. The Company has paid regular quarterly dividends for 51 consecutive years.

Reliance will host a conference call that will be broadcast live over the Internet (listen only mode) regarding the third quarter and nine months financial results for the period ended September 30, 2010. All interested parties are invited to listen to the web cast on October 21, 2010 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 November 21, 2010 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 Report on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2010 and June 30, 2010.

RELIANCE STEEL & ALUMINUM CO.

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)

               Three Months                      Nine Months

               Ended September 30,               Ended September 30,

               2010             2009             2010             2009

Income
Statement
Data:

Net sales      $ 1,653,798      $ 1,243,373      $ 4,728,458      $ 4,044,886

Gross            396,169          356,469          1,191,057        993,796
profit1

Operating        88,187           74,283           282,559          127,674
income

Pre-tax          73,424           61,511           235,957          82,644
income

Net income
attributable     48,650           41,757           154,899          56,088
to Reliance

Diluted
earnings per
share          $ 0.65           $ 0.57           $ 2.08           $ 0.76
attributable
to Reliance
shareholders

Weighted
average
shares           74,400,359       73,784,086       74,369,076       73,623,714
outstanding
- diluted

Gross profit     24.0       %     28.7       %     25.2       %     24.6       %
margin1

Operating
income           5.3        %     6.0        %     6.0        %     3.2        %
margin

Pre-tax
income           4.4        %     4.9        %     5.0        %     2.0        %
margin

Net income
margin -         2.9        %     3.4        %     3.3        %     1.4        %
Reliance

Cash
dividends      $ 0.10           $ 0.10           $ 0.30           $ 0.30
per share



                                                  September 30,   December 31,

                                                  2010            2009

             Balance Sheet and Other
             Data:

             Current assets                       $ 1,921,157     $ 1,390,904

             Working capital                        1,262,223       973,335

             Property, plant and                    985,360         981,259
             equipment, net

             Total assets                           4,817,523       4,306,777

             Current liabilities                    658,934         417,569

             Long-term debt                         944,231         849,375

             Total Reliance                         2,775,588       2,606,432
             shareholders' equity

             Capital expenditures                   65,784          69,901
             (year-to-date)

             Cash provided by
             operations                             47,685          942,996
             (year-to-date)

             Net debt-to-total                      24.7      %     25.6      %
             capital2

             Return on Reliance                     9.5       %     6.1       %
             shareholders' equity3

             Current ratio                          2.9             3.3

             Book value per share                 $ 37.26         $ 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.



RELIANCE STEEL & ALUMINUM CO.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In thousands, except share amounts)

ASSETS

                                                   September 30,   December 31,

                                                   2010            2009

                                                   (Unaudited)

Current assets:

Cash and cash equivalents                          $ 186,463       $ 43,002

Accounts receivable, less allowance for doubtful
accounts of $18,862 at September 30, 2010 and        761,955         533,871
$21,269 at December 31, 2009

Inventories                                          921,225         719,915

Prepaid expenses and other current assets            38,181          40,096

Income taxes receivable                              13,333          54,020

Total current assets                                 1,921,157       1,390,904

Property, plant and equipment:

Land                                                 136,099         131,009

Buildings                                            574,708         543,590

Machinery and equipment                              860,136         829,154

Accumulated depreciation                             (585,583  )     (522,494  )

                                                     985,360         981,259

Goodwill                                             1,082,256       1,081,324

Intangible assets, net                               707,664         726,255

Cash surrender value of life insurance policies,     88,013          92,860
net

Investments in unconsolidated entities               15,641          20,880

Other assets                                         17,432          13,295

Total assets                                       $ 4,817,523     $ 4,306,777

LIABILITIES AND EQUITY

Current liabilities:

Accounts payable                                   $ 326,359       $ 169,113

Accrued expenses                                     65,782          55,927

Accrued compensation and retirement costs            78,022          67,012

Accrued insurance costs                              37,955          39,134

Current maturities of long-term debt and             150,816         86,383
short-term borrowings

Total current liabilities                            658,934         417,569

Long-term debt                                       944,231         849,375

Long-term retirement costs                           71,572          69,277

Other long-term liabilities                          28,307          26,537

Deferred income taxes                                333,029         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 -- 74,501,093 at
September 30, 2010 and 73,750,771 at December        616,300         587,612
31, 2009, stated capital

Retained earnings                                    2,156,322       2,020,343

Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)        2,966           (1,523    )

Total Reliance shareholders' equity                  2,775,588       2,606,432

Noncontrolling interests                             5,862           1,690

Total equity                                         2,781,450       2,608,122

Total liabilities and equity                       $ 4,817,523     $ 4,306,777





RELIANCE STEEL & ALUMINUM CO.

UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME

(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)

                 Three Months                      Nine Months

                 Ended September 30,               Ended September 30,

                 2010             2009             2010             2009

Net sales        $ 1,653,798      $ 1,243,373      $ 4,728,458      $ 4,044,886

Costs and
expenses:

Cost of sales
(exclusive of
depreciation       1,257,629        886,904          3,537,401        3,051,090
and
amortization
shown below)

Warehouse,
delivery,
selling,           278,135          251,761          819,596          776,270
general and
administrative

Depreciation
and                29,847           30,425           88,902           89,852
amortization

                   1,565,611        1,169,090        4,445,899        3,917,212

Operating          88,187           74,283           282,559          127,674
income

Other income
(expense):

Interest           (15,276    )     (15,916    )     (46,006    )     (51,930    )

Other income       513              3,144            (596       )     6,900
(expense), net

Income before      73,424           61,511           235,957          82,644
income taxes

Income tax         24,139           19,434           78,880           25,735
provision

Net income         49,285           42,077           157,077          56,909

Less: Net
income
attributable       635              320              2,178            821
to
noncontrolling
interests

Net income
attributable     $ 48,650         $ 41,757         $ 154,899        $ 56,088
to Reliance

Earnings per
share:

Diluted
earnings per
common share     $ 0.65           $ 0.57           $ 2.08           $ 0.76
attributable
to Reliance
shareholders

Weighted
average shares     74,400,359       73,784,086       74,369,076       73,623,714
outstanding -
diluted

Basic earnings
per common
share            $ 0.65           $ 0.57           $ 2.09           $ 0.76
attributable
to Reliance
shareholders

Weighted
average shares     74,292,161       73,478,197       74,126,497       73,391,043
outstanding -
basic

Cash dividends   $ 0.10           $ 0.10           $ 0.30           $ 0.30
per share



RELIANCE STEEL & ALUMINUM CO.

UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(In thousands)

                                                   Nine Months Ended

                                                   September 30,

                                                   2010           2009

Operating activities:

Net income                                         $ 157,077      $ 56,909

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

Depreciation and amortization expense                88,902         89,852

Deferred income tax benefit                          (2,906   )     (14,120    )

Loss on sales of property, plant and equipment       779            62

Equity in earnings of unconsolidated entities        (244     )     (705       )

Dividends received from unconsolidated entity        320            1,120

Share based compensation expense                     12,715         11,456

Excess tax benefit from share based compensation     (3,316   )     (303       )

Net loss (gain) from life insurance policies         964            (5,219     )

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

Accounts receivable                                  (227,156 )     266,537

Inventories                                          (200,610 )     497,000

Prepaid expenses and other assets                    38,498         18,464

Accounts payable and other liabilities               182,662        (113,849   )

Net cash provided by operating activities            47,685         807,204

Investing activities:

Purchases of property, plant and equipment           (65,784  )     (55,044    )

Proceeds from sales of property, plant and           1,067          1,173
equipment

Net proceeds from redemption of life insurance       3,883          6,576
policies

Net cash used in investing activities                (60,834  )     (47,295    )

Financing activities:

Net short-term debt borrowings (repayments)          3,906          (1,107     )

Proceeds from long-term debt borrowings              427,000        352,000

Principal payments on long-term debt                 (272,789 )     (1,047,417 )

Debt issuance costs                                  --             (6,841     )

Payments to noncontrolling interest holder           (980     )     (1,323     )

Capital contributions from noncontrolling            142            --
interests

Dividends paid                                       (22,236  )     (22,019    )

Excess tax benefit from share based compensation     3,316          303

Exercise of stock options                            17,434         4,059

Issuance of common stock                             --             258

Noncontrolling interests purchased                   --             (2,661     )

Net cash provided by (used in) financing             155,793        (724,748   )
activities

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash              817            708

Increase in cash and cash equivalents                143,461        35,869

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

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period         $ 186,463      $ 87,864

Supplemental cash flow information:

Interest paid during the period                    $ 33,026       $ 46,832

Income taxes paid during the period                $ 47,100       $ 28,260



    Source: Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.