Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. Reports Record 2008 Nine Months Results

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, 2008. For the 2008 third quarter, net income was $152.5 million, up 63% compared with net income of $93.6 million for the 2007 third quarter. Earnings per diluted share were $2.07 for the 2008 third quarter, up 70% from $1.22 for the 2007 third quarter. 2008 third quarter sales were a record $2.57 billion, an increase of 42% compared with 2007 third quarter sales of $1.81 billion. The 2008 third quarter financial results include in cost of sales a pre-tax LIFO expense amount of $79.0 million, or $.67 per diluted share, compared with a pre-tax LIFO expense amount of $12.5 million, or $.10 per diluted share in the 2007 third quarter.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2008, net income amounted to a record $416.5 million, up 27% compared with net income of $328.0 million for the same period in 2007. Earnings per diluted share were a record $5.65 for the nine months ended September 30, 2008, compared with earnings of $4.28 per diluted share for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. Sales for the 2008 year-to-date period were a record $6.58 billion, an increase of 18% compared with 2007 nine month sales of $5.55 billion. The 2008 nine month financial results include in cost of sales a pre-tax LIFO expense amount of $136.5 million, or $1.15 per diluted share, compared with a pre-tax LIFO expense amount of $45.0 million, or $.37 per diluted share in the 2007 year-to-date period.

David H. Hannah, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Reliance said, "The 2008 third quarter was reasonably strong from both a demand and pricing perspective, especially in July and August. During September we began to see some softening in prices and volume. However, this slowdown was more than offset by our PNA Group acquisition on August 1, which was accretive to our third quarter results. Overall, through the first nine months of 2008, demand has not been quite as good as the last couple of years, but we have still been able to post record results. We have also been able to grow the Company significantly. Additionally, we are comfortable with our balance sheet and we expect free cash flow to increase and debt to decrease over the near term. Through the nine months ended September 30, 2008, we have already surpassed our previous full year records for net income and earnings per share."

"Looking forward, we expect the business climate to become more difficult over the next couple of quarters. The 2001 to 2003 period was much more difficult for our industry than it is currently. We successfully managed through that period and we expect to do so again. Currently we have not seen a significant decrease in the amount of business activity, contrary to what you may be hearing and reading. However, because of the uncertainty regarding the economy going forward, which is complicated even further by the currently unknown impact on the industrial economy of the troubled credit market, we are not comfortable providing 2008 fourth quarter earnings per share guidance at this time. We will, during the course of the quarter, communicate any meaningful information regarding our operations as it becomes available," Hannah stated.

"On August 1, we completed the acquisition of the outstanding capital stock of PNA Group Holding Corporation, a national steel service center group. The transaction value of approximately $1.1 billion included approximately $725 million of PNA's debt that was repaid or refinanced, including the settlement of Reliance's cash tender offers for 100% of the outstanding notes of PNA's subsidiaries. Reliance funded the purchase of PNA with proceeds from its new $500 million senior unsecured term loan and borrowings under Reliance's existing $1.1 billion credit facility at a weighted average borrowing cost of 4.3% for the 2008 third quarter. PNA's subsidiaries include the operating entities Delta Steel, LP, Feralloy Corporation, Infra-Metals Co., Metals Supply Company, Ltd., Precision Flamecutting and Steel, LP and Sugar Steel Corporation. Through its subsidiaries, PNA processes and distributes primarily carbon steel plate, bar, structural and flat-rolled products. PNA had revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 of about $1.8 billion. PNA operates 23 steel service centers throughout the United States, as well as five joint ventures with seven additional service centers in the United States and Mexico," added Hannah.

"On September 17, we acquired the assets, including the inventory, machinery, and equipment, of the Singapore operation of HLN Metal Centre Pte. Ltd. (HLN Metal). The primary business of Singapore-based HLN Metal involves the processing and distribution of custom machined materials and the sawing of metal products and components. The purchase price of the assets was approximately $2.6 million. The business will operate as Reliance Metalcenter Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. (RMAP). We are very pleased to continue to grow our international presence," Hannah concluded.

On July 16, 2008, the Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $.10 per share of common stock. The 2008 third quarter dividend was paid on September 12, 2008 to shareholders of record August 22, 2008. The Company has paid regular quarterly dividends for 48 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, 2008.
All interested parties are invited to listen to the web cast on
October 16, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time at:
http://www.rsac.com/investorinformation 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 through November 16, 2008 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 39 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 2008 "Fortune 500" List, the Fortune 2008 List of "America's Most Admired Companies" the 2008 Forbes "America's Best Managed Companies" List, the 2008 Forbes "Platinum 400 List of America's Best Big Companies," and the 2008 Fortune "100 Fastest Growing Companies" List.

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, 2007, and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2008 and June 30, 2008.

                    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,
                      ------------------------------------------------
                          2008        2007        2008        2007
                      ------------------------------------------------
Income Statement Data:
Net sales             $ 2,572,836 $ 1,812,092 $ 6,576,074 $ 5,550,018
Gross profit              624,048     439,964   1,703,261   1,409,913
Operating income          268,592     168,156     725,721     580,343
EBITDA(1)                 295,534     190,010     794,587     642,565
EBIT(1)                   268,524     170,219     724,767     585,113
Pre-tax income            244,625     149,702     668,094     524,871
Net income                152,498      93,565     416,489     328,045
EPS - diluted         $      2.07 $      1.22 $      5.65 $      4.28
Weighted average
 shares outstanding -
 diluted               73,775,991  76,476,928  73,686,248  76,613,307
Gross margin                 24.3%       24.3%       25.9%       25.4%
Operating income
 margin                      10.4%        9.3%       11.0%       10.5%
EBITDA margin(1)             11.5%       10.5%       12.1%       11.6%
EBIT margin(1)               10.4%        9.4%       11.0%       10.5%
Pre-tax margin                9.5%        8.3%       10.2%        9.5%
Net margin                    5.9%        5.2%        6.3%        5.9%
Cash dividends per
 share                $       .10 $       .08 $       .30 $       .24
                                         September 30,  December 31,
                                              2008          2007
                                         -----------------------------
Balance Sheet and Other Data:
Current assets                           $   3,085,675 $    1,721,403
Working capital                              2,047,559      1,121,539
Property, plant and equipment, net             991,699        824,635
Total assets                                 6,085,144      3,983,477
Current liabilities                          1,038,116        599,864
Long-term debt(2)                            2,232,230      1,013,260
Shareholders' equity                         2,406,443      2,106,249
Capital expenditures (year-to-date)            119,546        124,127
Net debt-to-total capital(3)                      48.1%          32.4%
Return on equity(4)                               23.6%          23.4%
Current ratio                                      3.0            2.9
Book value per share                     $       32.86 $        28.12
Cash flow from operations per share(5)   $        4.99 $         8.40

(1) See Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Income for reconciliation of EBIT and EBITDA. EBIT is defined as the sum of income before interest expense and income taxes. EBITDA is defined as the sum of income before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation expense and amortization of intangibles. We use EBITDA as a liquidity performance measure and believe EBITDA is useful in evaluating our liquidity because the calculation generally eliminates the effects of financing costs and income taxes and the accounting effects of capital spending and acquisitions, which are assessed and evaluated through other operating performance measures. EBITDA is also commonly used as a measure of operating and liquidity performance for companies in our industry and is frequently used by analysts, investors, lenders, rating agencies and other interested parties to evaluate a company's financial performance and its ability to incur and service debt. EBITDA is not a recognized measurement under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and, therefore, represents a non-GAAP financial measure. EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for consolidated statements of income and cash flows data prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles as it excludes components that are significant in understanding and assessing our results of operations and cash flows. EBITDA as presented is not necessarily comparable with similarly titled measures for other companies.

(2) Long-term debt includes capital lease obligations of $4,008 and $4,495 as of September 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007, respectively.

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

(4) Calculations are based on the latest twelve months net income and beginning shareholders' equity.

(5) Calculations are based on the latest twelve months.

                    RELIANCE STEEL & ALUMINUM CO.
                     CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
                 (In thousands, except share amounts)
                                ASSETS

                                            September 30, December 31,
                                                2008          2007
                                            ------------   -----------
                                            (Unaudited)
Current assets:
  Cash and cash equivalents                 $    43,682    $   77,023
  Accounts receivable, less allowance for
   doubtful accounts of $25,068 at September
   30, 2008 and $16,153 at December 31, 2007  1,254,181       691,462
  Inventories                                 1,759,519       911,315
  Prepaid expenses and other current assets      28,293        24,028
  Income taxes receivable                            --        17,575
                                            ------------   -----------
Total current assets                          3,085,675     1,721,403
Property, plant and equipment, at cost:
  Land                                          122,182       115,294
  Buildings                                     464,636       417,677
  Machinery and equipment                       830,483       669,671
  Accumulated depreciation                     (425,602)     (378,007)
                                            ------------   -----------
                                                991,699       824,635

Goodwill                                      1,136,118       886,152
Intangible assets, net                          781,720       464,291
Cash surrender value of life insurance
 policies, net                                   67,820        73,953
Other assets                                     22,112        13,043
                                            ------------   -----------
Total assets                                $ 6,085,144    $3,983,477
                                            ============   ===========
          LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities:
  Accounts payable                          $   546,904    $  333,986
  Accrued expenses                              244,073        37,863
  Accrued compensation and retirement costs     125,044        95,539
  Accrued insurance costs                        42,009        36,884
  Income taxes payable                           12,533            --
  Deferred income taxes                          22,915        23,136
  Current maturities of long-term debt           44,001        71,815
  Current maturities of capital lease
   obligations                                      637           641
                                            ------------   -----------
Total current liabilities                     1,038,116       599,864
Long-term debt                                2,228,222     1,008,765
Capital lease obligations                         4,008         4,495
Long-term retirement costs and other long-
 term liabilities                                78,964        62,224
Deferred income taxes                           324,696       200,181
Minority interest                                 4,695         1,699
Commitments and contingencies
Shareholders' 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
     --73,244,589 at September 30, 2008 and
     74,906,824 at December 31, 2007, stated
     capital
                                                559,618       646,406
  Retained earnings                           1,841,090     1,439,598
  Accumulated other comprehensive income          5,735        20,245
                                            ------------   -----------
Total shareholders' equity                    2,406,443     2,106,249
                                            ------------   -----------
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity  $ 6,085,144    $3,983,477
                                            ============   ===========
                    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,
                      ------------------------------------------------
                          2008        2007        2008        2007
                      ------------------------------------------------

Net sales             $ 2,572,836 $ 1,812,092 $ 6,576,074 $ 5,550,018

Costs and expenses:
  Cost of sales
   (exclusive of
   depreciation and
   amortization shown
   below)               1,948,788   1,372,128   4,872,813   4,140,105
  Warehouse, delivery,
   selling, general
   and administrative     328,446     252,017     907,720     772,118
  Depreciation and
   amortization            27,010      19,791      69,820      57,452
                      ------------------------------------------------
                        2,304,244   1,643,936   5,850,353   4,969,675

Operating income          268,592     168,156     725,721     580,343

Other income
 (expense):
  Interest                (23,899)    (20,517)    (56,673)    (60,242)
  Other income
   (expense), net             (68)      2,063        (954)      4,770
                      ------------------------------------------------
Income from continuing
 operations before
 income taxes             244,625     149,702     668,094     524,871
Provision for income
 taxes                     92,127      56,137     251,605     196,826
                      ------------------------------------------------
Net income            $   152,498 $    93,565 $   416,489 $   328,045
                      ================================================

Earnings per share:
Income from continuing
 operations - diluted $      2.07 $      1.22 $      5.65 $      4.28
                      ================================================
Weighted average
 shares outstanding -
 diluted               73,775,991  76,476,928  73,686,248  76,613,307
                      ================================================

Income from continuing
 operations - basic   $      2.08 $      1.24 $      5.70 $      4.32
                      ================================================
Weighted average
 shares outstanding -
 basic                 73,238,881  75,609,783  73,038,140  75,896,299
                      ================================================

Cash dividends per
 share                $       .10 $       .08 $       .30 $       .24
                      ================================================


                  Reconciliation of EBIT and EBITDA
Net cash (used in)
 provided by operating
 activities           $   (12,994)$   214,448 $   115,387 $   384,687
Provision for income
 taxes                     92,127      56,137     251,605     196,826
Interest expense           23,899      20,517      56,673      60,242
Other non cash
 adjustments               (5,742)     (6,469)     (1,428)      1,194
Changes in assets and
 liabilities
 (excluding effect of
 businesses acquired)     198,244     (94,623)    372,350        (384)
                      ------------------------------------------------
EBITDA                $   295,534 $   190,010 $   794,587 $   642,565
                      ================================================
Less, Depreciation and
 amortization expense      27,010      19,791      69,820      57,452
                      ------------------------------------------------
EBIT                  $   268,524 $   170,219 $   724,767 $   585,113
                      ================================================
                    RELIANCE STEEL & ALUMINUM CO.
           UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
                            (In thousands)

                                                  Nine Months Ended
                                                    September 30,
                                                ----------------------
                                                   2008        2007
                                                -----------  ---------
Operating activities:
Net income                                      $   416,489  $328,045
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash
 provided by operating activities:

   Depreciation and amortization                     69,820    57,452
   Provision for deferred income taxes               (4,057)   (2,333)
   Loss (gain) on sales of property, plant and
    equipment                                         2,212    (1,115)
   Equity in earnings of unconsolidated
    partnerships                                       (396)       --
   Minority interest                                    696       283
   Stock based compensation expense                  10,621     7,569
   Excess tax benefits from stock based
    compensation                                     (9,381)   (6,062)
   Decrease in cash surrender value of life
    insurance policies                                1,733       464
   Changes in operating assets and liabilities
    (excluding effect of businesses acquired):
      Accounts receivable                          (230,160)  (66,632)
      Inventories                                  (294,160)   16,454
      Prepaid expenses and other assets              15,388    15,586
      Accounts payable and other liabilities        136,582    34,976
                                                ------------ ---------
Net cash provided by operating activities           115,387   384,687

Investing activities:
  Purchases of property, plant and equipment       (119,546)  (88,350)
  Acquisitions of metals service centers and net
   asset purchases of metals service centers,
   net of cash acquired                            (329,402) (257,640)
  Tax distributions related to prior
   acquisitions                                      (1,155)     (634)
  Proceeds from sales of property, plant and
   equipment                                         18,917     2,833
  Proceeds from redemption of life insurance
   policies                                           2,532       134
  Net investment in life insurance policies             (96)     (262)
                                                ------------ ---------
Net cash used in investing activities              (428,750) (343,919)

Financing activities:
  Proceeds from borrowings                        1,633,897   648,554
  Principal payments on long-term debt and
   short-term borrowings                         (1,239,310) (558,155)
  Debt issuance costs                                (3,313)       --
  Dividends paid                                    (21,899)  (18,216)
  Excess tax benefits from stock based
   compensation                                       9,381     6,062
  Exercise of stock options                          17,081    11,047
  Issuance of common stock                              284       281
  Common stock repurchases                         (114,774)  (82,167)
                                                ------------ ---------
Net cash provided by financing activities           281,347     7,406
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash              (1,325)      354
                                                ------------ ---------
(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents    (33,341)   48,528
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period     77,023    57,475
                                                ------------ ---------
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period      $    43,682  $106,003
                                                ============ =========

Supplemental cash flow information:
Interest paid during the period                 $    38,339   $45,395
Income taxes paid during the period             $   184,443  $183,734

Source: Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.