Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. 2009 Fourth Quarter Earnings Guidance

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (NYSE:RS) announced today that it is providing guidance regarding the Company's earnings estimates for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009. At this time, Reliance expects earnings to be in the range of $.95 to $1.05 per diluted share for the 2009 fourth quarter and $1.71 to $1.81 for the 2009 year. The current mean of the Wall Street analysts' earnings estimates is $.38 per share for Reliance's 2009 fourth quarter and $1.14 for the 2009 year.

Reliance's Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, David H. Hannah, said, "In our September 30, 2009 third quarter financial results conference call we stated that we were not comfortable providing earnings guidance for the 2009 fourth quarter because of the widespread uncertainty regarding business conditions. Both demand and pricing were at better levels than expected, given the seasonal pressures that we typically experience in the fourth quarter. Our gross profit margins improved compared to the 2009 third quarter due to stronger pricing and a larger annual LIFO adjustment than originally estimated. Revenues for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009 were approximately $1.3 billion and $5.3 billion, respectively."

The Company will announce its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009, on Thursday, February 18, 2010 prior to the opening of the New York Stock Exchange and will host a conference call web cast that same day at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time at: www.rsac.com/investorinformation.

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, 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 2009 "Fortune 500" List, the 2008 Forbes "America's Best Managed Companies" List and the 2009 Fortune List of "The World's Most Admired 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, 2008 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2009 and June 30, 2009 and September 30, 2009.

    Source: Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.

Released January 20, 2010