United States Steel Fourth-Quarter Profit Decreases

Lower steel prices and volume saw United States Steel Corporation’s fourth-quarter profits slide steeply. The results included a one-time accounting charge of $35 million related to its Slovak operation. U.S. Steel’s net income slid to $109 million, or 85 cents per share, from $451 million, or $3.46 per share from a year earlier.
Pricing on flat-rolled steel fell to $597 per ton from $623 per ton, while shipments of the product also declined to 3.3 million tons from 3.7 million tons in the prior-year quarter. Full-year earnings were $892 million, or $7 per share, versus $1.12 billion, or $8.83 per share, in 2004. The accounting charge took off $41 million off U.S. Steel’s annual earnings.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for per-share earnings of  $1.06 and sales of $3.51 billion, according to an Associated Press report.