U.S. Steel has record earnings for the third quarter 2008

BY ANDREA HOLECEK, Times of Northwest Indiana 
holecek@nwitimes.com

U.S. Steel Corp. on Tuesday reported record profits of $919 million for the third quarter or $7.79 a share, more than triple its $269 earnings for the same year-ago period and $251 million higher than profits for the second quarter 2008.

The company reported its sales soared to $7.31 billion in the period with income from operations of $1,327 million, compared with income from operations of $954 million in the second quarter of 2008 and $360 million in the third quarter of 2007.

The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said its income was lowered by $79 million because of a $105 million pre-tax charge for employee signing bonuses stipulated in the new labor agreements with the United Steelworkers, and a $23 million charge related to environmental remediation at a former production site.

But U.S. Steel Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Surma warned that income and earnings for the current period would likely be lower than for the third quarter.

"The volatile global economic climate is having significant negative effects on our business and our forward view is limited because of low order backlogs and short lead times," said Surma in a statement. "We expect a decline in fourth quarter results mainly due to softening demand and prices for flat-rolled products in North America and Europe, and we expect to continue to operate at reduced production levels, corresponding with customer order rates."

The company also announced it had repurchased 1.13 million shares of common stock for approximately $130 million during the third quarter. The per-share price of U.S. Steel stock has fallen from a $196 high in late June to $30.28 a share at the close of the market on Monday.