MOUNT AIRY, N.C. (Jan. 24) — Steel wire maker Insteel Industries Inc. reported record results for the three months to Dec. 31, but company management said it would be "difficult to determine with any degree of certainty" whether the improvement in shipments will continue through the remainder of fiscal 2006.
Net earnings for the first quarter increased 50 percent to $7.7 million, while sales rose 12 percent to $83.5 million. Shipments for the quarter increased 24 percent while average selling prices fell 10 percent from the prior year levels, Insteel said.
Insteel did not disclose a performance breakdown among its product categories.
Besides tire bead wire, Mount Airy-based Insteel makes welded wire reinforcement, concrete pipe reinforcement and engineered structural mesh for concrete reinforcing applications at seven plants in the U.S.