Ameron Posts Steep Decline In 3rd-quarter Profit

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Ameron International Corp., which makes water transmission lines and other products, posted another steep quarterly decline in profit Thursday, and for the same reason: falling demand for a key steel product.

However, the Pasadena, Calif., company still beat Wall Street estimates.

Ameron said net income for the third quarter was $5.9 million, or 65 cents per share, down 60 percent from $15 million, or $1.63 per share, in the same quarter last year.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected, on average, earnings of 59 cents per share on revenue of $142.9 million.

Revenue of $131.4 million for the quarter ended Aug. 30 was down 23 percent from $170.1 million in the year-ago period.

Ameron said earnings declined in large part due to lower earnings from TAMCO, the company's 50 percent-owned steel minimill in Southern California.

TAMCO has felt the impact of a significant decline in demand for steel rebar — stainless steel reinforcing bars used in construction — due to reduced public works and commercial construction spending in TAMCO's primary markets in Arizona, California and Nevada, Ameron said.