GrafTech Reports Third Quarter 2012 Results

During the third quarter, GrafTech purchased building and land in Northeast Ohio for $3 million, which will be used to expand Engineered Solutions' manufacturing capacity for our advanced consumer electronics products. This area of our business has witnessed very strong demand and is currently running at more than 90 percent capacity utilization.

Corporate

Total company overhead expenses were $36 million versus $35 million in the third quarter of 2011. This compares to overhead expense in the second quarter of 2012 of $38 million. The decline in overhead is largely driven by lower administrative expense as a result of right sizing initiatives taken throughout the year to proactively manage costs in a difficult operating environment.

Other expense on a net basis was $2 million in the third quarter of 2012, as compared to $5 million in the same period of the prior year. Interest expense in the quarter was $6 million, versus $5 million in the third quarter of 2011.

In the third quarter, we recognized tax credits from the U.S. Federal Government in support of our research and development efforts related to high-tech Engineered Solutions products. The tax credits positively impacted the quarter resulting in an effective income tax rate of 18 percent. We now estimate our full year effective income tax rate to be in the range of 21 percent to 23 percent.

Outlook

In its October report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s estimate for global GDP growth was reduced for the third time this year to 3.3 percent in 2012. The IMF highlights that downside risks to the global economic recovery have risen considerably. Continued uncertainty has led to low confidence levels and a fragile outlook in both advanced and emerging economies. The IMF's report went on to state that global manufacturing has slowed significantly, the crisis in Europe has deepened and emerging markets continue to lose growth momentum with no signs of significant improvement in the near term. As a result, the IMF also cut its 2013 global GDP growth forecast to 3.6 percent.

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