Globe Specialty Metals Announces Fourth Quarter And Full Year Fiscal 2010 Results And A Dividend Of $0.15 Per Common Share

NEW YORK, Sept. 16, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Globe Specialty Metals, Inc. (Nasdaq:GSM) (the "Company") today announces results for the quarter and fiscal year ended June 30, 2010. Key points are as follows:

• Net sales for the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2010 were up 30%, to $146.4 million, and shipments increased 30% to 62,207 MT, from our third quarter ended March 31, 2010. Core Metals Group, acquired on April 1, 2010, accounted for 61% of the increase in sales and 68% of the increase in shipments. Net sales and shipments increased 79% and 93%, respectively, from the quarter ended June 30, 2009.  
• Net income attributable to GSM for the fourth quarter was $6.6 million, compared to $0.5 million in our third quarter and $1.6 million in the fourth quarter of last year.  Diluted earnings per share were $0.09 in the fourth quarter, compared to $0.01 per share in our third quarter and $0.02 per share in the fourth quarter of last year.   
• Other than maintenance outages, we are currently running all of our silicon metal and silicon-based alloy furnaces at full capacity. Customer demand remains strong.  

• The Board of Directors today approved an annual dividend of $0.15 per common share. The dividend is payable October 29, 2010, to stockholders of record as of October 15, 2010. This dividend represents an aggregate cash payment of $11.1 million to our stockholders. The Company is initiating this dividend based on its historical earnings and expectations for continued earnings growth. We believe our expected future free cash flow, modest debt levels and net cash balance are sufficient to fund a dividend of this amount and provide adequate financial flexibility to support our growth initiatives. In the future, we intend to continue to consider declaring dividends on an annual basis, subject to reviewing our earnings and then current circumstances.          

Diluted earnings per share on a comparable basis were as follows:

	FY 2010		FY 2009	Full Year
	Fourth Quarter	Third Quarter	Fourth Quarter	FY 2010	FY 2009
Reported Diluted EPS	$ 0.09	$ 0.01	$ 0.02	$ 0.46	$ (0.65)
Goodwill and intangible asset impairment	--	--	--	--	1.01
Loss (gain) on sale of business	0.04	--	--	(0.14)	--
Tax rate adjustment	(0.03)	0.01	--	--	--
Niagara Falls and Selma startup costs	0.02	0.02	--	0.08	--
Transaction expenses	--	0.01	--	0.01	0.02
Inventory write-down and restructuring charges	--	--	--	0.01	0.10
Power adjustment	(0.01)	--	0.01	--	0.01
Diluted EPS, excluding above items	$ 0.11	$ 0.05	$ 0.03	$ 0.42	$ 0.49

Fourth quarter results were negatively impacted by $3.2 million of after-tax costs for retained liabilities related to a disposed business, which partially reduced a prior gain, and $1.9 million of after-tax start-up related costs for the Niagara Falls, NY plant. Results were positively impacted by a reduction in our tax rate in the fourth quarter due to certain state tax credits, which resulted in a $2.1 million benefit in our provision for income taxes, and a $1.0 million retroactive adjustment to power costs. The increase in diluted EPS, excluding the above items, from $0.05 per share in our third quarter to $0.11 per share in our fourth quarter is primarily due to the acquisition of Core Metals Group, as well as a higher volume of shipments and a modest increase in average selling prices in our existing businesses, partially offset by higher variable compensation expense.