Worthington Industries' debt up, but balance sheet strong, CFO says

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Savannah, Ga., June 30 - Worthington Industries, Inc.'s debt increased by $52 million in the fourth quarter, but the company's balance sheet remains strong, Andy Rose, its chief financial officer, said on Thursday during its quarterly and year-end earnings conference call.

Total debt stood at $383.2 million at May 31. Debt increased during the fourth quarter due to higher working capital needs and the repurchase of 2.7 million shares, Rose said.

Worthington had $56 million of cash and more than $350 million of available debt capacity at May 31.

During the fourth quarter, Worthington continued to evaluate and take actions to optimize its portfolio by divesting assets not meeting its goals for margin and return on capital, while investing more aggressively in those that are, Rose said.

"We believe that the combination of a portfolio of better performing businesses and a transformation capability that allows us to continually improve our performance provides a solid foundation for earnings as the economy continues its slow but steady recovery," Rose said.

Worthington closed on two significant transactions in the fourth quarter that resulted in the contribution of the majority of the net assets of all of the operations of the metal framing and automotive body panels segments into two separate joint ventures.

Worthington reported fourth-quarter net sales of $675.7 million and net earnings of $51.9 million. The figures compared with net sales of $626.4 million and net earnings of $33.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The company's fourth-quarter performance was aided by volume increases in cylinders and steel, as well as rising steel prices, Rose said.

Worthington reported $10.4 million of cash provided by operating activities in the fourth quarter, up from $9.6 million of cash used by operations in the year-ago period.

Worthington is a diversified metal processing company based in Columbus, Ohio.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.