AK Steel 2Q profit beats estimates; revenue climbs to $2.24B

BOSTON, Jul 22, 2008 (Thomson Financial via COMTEX) -- AKS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- AK Steel Holding Corp. Tuesday said second-quarter net income rose to $145.2 million, or $1.29 a share, beating the mean estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters of $1.15 a share.

In the same period a year ago, the company posted net income of $109.9 million, or 98 cents a share.

Revenue for the West Chester, Ohio-based steel producer rose to $2.24 billion from $1.87 billion a year earlier. Analysts, on average, had estimated revenue of $2.1 billion.

The company said its average selling price for the quarter was $1,287 per ton, an 18% increase over the $1,092 per-ton mark set in the second quarter of 2007. The increase in per-ton selling prices resulted from higher contract and spot market pricing driven by strong demand and record raw material and energy cost increases, AK Steel said.

The company's shares closed Monday at $51.06. Casey Logan cl/vj

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