Realized significant accomplishments and improvements to the business in a pandemic year of adversities with enhanced recovery capacities

CHICAGO, Feb. 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ryerson Holding Corporation (NYSE: RYI), a leading value-added processor and distributor of industrial metals, today reported results for the fourth quarter and full-year ended December 31, 2020.

Q4 2020 Highlights:

• Continued successfully executing upon our dual mandate pandemic response plan to safeguard the health and safety of our employees and to improve the liquidity and recovery capacity of the Company.
• Redeemed $50 million in outstanding Senior Secured Notes due 2028 and ended the year with net debt of $679 million, a decrease of $244 million compared to 2019 enabled by strong cash flow generation from operations of $278 million.
• Fourth quarter revenues increased by 2.6% sequentially driven by the robust metals pricing environment and recovering demand fundamentals. Gross margin contracted quarter-over-quarter to 18.0% due to lagging contract business price resets, whereas gross margin, excluding LIFO expanded during the quarter to 19.3%, an increase of 260 bps quarter-over-quarter.
• Achieved Adjusted EBITDA, excluding LIFO of $34 million, an increase of $2 million compared to the previous quarter on higher volumes and improved pricing partially offset by restored salaries and wages, variable incentive compensation true-ups, higher delivery expenses and SAP ERP conversion expenses at CS&W.
• Generated fourth quarter loss per diluted share of $0.44, or adjusted loss per diluted share of $0.17 excluding one-time non-recurring and non-operating items.
• Exceptional working capital management during the fourth quarter with a cash conversion cycle of 62 days, a decrease of 24 days compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.
• Continuing to progress in de-risking the balance sheet through continued deleveraging and legacy liability management.
• Jim Claussen, President of Central Steel & Wire, named Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of Ryerson.

A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP measure is included below in this news release.

Management Commentary

Eddie Lehner, Ryerson's President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "I want to thank my Ryerson colleagues for meeting the COVID-19 challenges of 2020 with determined perseverance and extraordinary effort. I also want to thank our customers for their business as well as our suppliers for their support throughout this year of public health, economic and societal adversity. As we move through what we hope are the latter stages of the pandemic, we extend our continuing heartfelt thanks to all essential workers whose work through the crisis will be reverentially remembered for all time. Amidst a myriad of challenges, we had our best safety performance as a Company in decades. We also significantly improved both the Company's balance sheet and operating model, and we embark upon this next economic cycle with a greatly enhanced recovery capacity and a clear line of sight to further deleveraging of the balance sheet and enterprise value growth."

Fourth Quarter Results

Ryerson achieved revenues of $853 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of 2.6 percent compared to $832 million for the third quarter of 2020, with average selling prices 2.0 percent higher and tons shipped 0.6 percent higher. On a per day basis, shipments increased by 5.6 percent sequentially, which exceeded our expectation of 2 to 4 percent communicated on our third quarter earnings call. Gross margin contracted to 18.0 percent due to lagging contract business price resets and LIFO expense in the quarter, compared to 18.7 percent for the third quarter of 2020 and 18.8 percent for the fourth quarter of 2019. Included in fourth quarter of 2020 cost of materials sold was LIFO expense of $10.7 million, compared to LIFO income of $16.9 million in the third quarter of 2020, and LIFO income of $6.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. Adjusting to remove the impact of LIFO, gross margin expanded to 19.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to 16.7 percent in the third quarter of 2020 and 18.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019. A reconciliation of gross margin, excluding LIFO to gross margin is included below in this release.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, warehousing, delivery, selling, general, and administrative expenses increased by 18.9 percent compared to the previous quarter, driven by higher salaries and wages due to compensation restoration, higher variable incentive compensation and increased variable delivery costs. As a percentage of sales, warehousing, delivery, selling, general, and administrative expenses increased to 17.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to 15.1 percent in the third quarter of 2020. Compared to the same quarter last year, warehousing, delivery, selling, and administrative expenses increased by $6.2 million, or 4.3 percent.

Net loss attributable to Ryerson Holding Corporation for the fourth quarter was $16.7 million, or a loss of $0.44 per diluted share, compared to net loss of $39.9 million, or $1.05 per diluted share, in the prior quarter. Included in fourth quarter net loss is $12.1 million of  pension settlement charge driven by the completion of a lump sum buyout offering to a portion of terminated vested pension participants during the quarter. Adjusted net loss attributable to Ryerson Holding Corporation, excluding restructuring and other charges, loss on retirement of debt, pension settlement charges, and the associated income taxes on these items, was $6.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2020, or a loss of $0.17 per diluted share compared to $11.9 million of adjusted net income, or $0.31 per diluted share, in the prior quarter. Ryerson achieved Adjusted EBITDA, excluding LIFO of $33.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of $2.2 million compared to the third quarter of 2020 and a decrease of $13.3 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. A reconciliation of Adjusted net income (loss) to net income (loss) attributable to Ryerson Holding Corporation and Adjusted EBITDA, excluding LIFO to net income (loss) attributable to Ryerson Holding Corporation is included below in this news release.

2020 Results

Revenues for 2020 were $3.47 billion, a decrease of 23.0 percent compared to 2019, as tons shipped decreased 15.6 percent and average selling prices decreased 8.7 percent. Warehousing, delivery, selling, general, and administrative expenses for 2020 decreased by $82.5 million, or 13.0 percent, compared to 2019 primarily due to lower salaries and wages due to workforce and compensation reductions of $36.4 million in response to the outbreak of COVID-19. Net loss attributable to Ryerson Holding Corporation was $65.8 million, or a loss of $1.73 per diluted share, in 2020 compared to $82.4 million of net income attributable to Ryerson Holding Corporation, or $2.17 per diluted share, for 2019. Adjusted net income (loss) attributable to Ryerson Holding Corporation, excluding gain on sale of assets, gain on insurance settlement, restructuring and other charges, gain or loss on retirement of debt, pension settlement charge, and the associated income taxes on these items, was a loss of $3.1 million for 2020, or $0.08 per diluted share compared to $67.9 million of income, or $1.79 per diluted share for 2019. Ryerson achieved Adjusted EBITDA, excluding LIFO of $120.0 million in 2020 compared to $190.1 million in 2019. Reconciliations of Adjusted EBITDA, excluding LIFO and adjusted net income (loss) to net income (loss) attributable to Ryerson Holding Corporation is included below in this news release.

Liquidity & Debt Management

Ryerson continued to demonstrate strong working capital management in the fourth quarter as the Company maintained inventory days of supply of 68 days, consistent with the prior quarter and in-line with the current industry environment. This compares to 84 inventory days of supply for the fourth quarter of 2019. The Company also continued to improve receivables and payables cycles in the fourth quarter, contributing to a cash conversion cycle of 62 days for the period, compared to 70 days for the third quarter and 86 days for the year-ago period. 

Ryerson's use of operating cash in the fourth quarter of $18.8 million was driven by cyclical investments in working capital. This compares to operating cash flow generation of $120.6 million in the third quarter and generation of $62.6 million in the year-ago period. The Company again reduced its outstanding net debt during the fourth quarter, decreasing it by approximately $13 million during the fourth quarter to $679 million as of December 31, 2020 and achieving the lowest net debt level in ten years for the third consecutive quarter. On October 30, 2020, Ryerson redeemed $50 million of its outstanding Senior Secured Notes due 2028. This transaction marked the first exercise of the Company's optional redemption features secured in the July 2020 refinance, and is expected to provide approximately $4.3 million in annual interest expense savings. Ryerson retained a strong liquidity position of $373 million as of December 31, 2020, compared to $398 million as of September 31, 2020.

Molly Kannan, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer said, "Throughout 2020 we exhibited strong working capital management and expense discipline, evidenced by our improved cash conversion cycle, expense reduction and free cash flow generation of over $250 million. At the same time, we also closed milestone achievements in our balance sheet transformation including the refinance of our Notes, de-risking of a portion of our pension liabilities, amending and extending our revolving line of credit and reduction of our debt to a historically low level."

Jim Claussen, recently named Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, added, "I would like to commend all my Ryerson teammates for their execution during 2020.  As CFO, I am excited to work closely with our tremendous team as we continue our transformative work and drive value to all Ryerson stakeholders."

Outlook Commentary

Although pandemic driven uncertainties persist, Ryerson is optimistic about  2021 industry recovery potential given mid-Q1 economic indicators.  Improving demand amidst recovery expectations, coupled with the intensifying tightness in the supply environment, has supported notable price appreciation across all three of Ryerson's primary commodity bellwethers thus far in the first quarter. Given these factors, Ryerson anticipates first quarter 2021 revenues of $1.08 billion to $1.10 billion driven by sequential average selling prices growth of 13 to 15 percent and shipment growth of 11 to 13 percent. LIFO expense in the first quarter is expected to be in the range of $49 to $53 million as replacement costs continue to increase relative to average inventory costs. Given these expectations, Adjusted EBITDA, excluding LIFO is expected to be in the range of $102 to $106 million and earnings per diluted share are expected to be in the range of $0.81 to $0.92. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA, excluding LIFO to net income is included below in this news release.

Earnings Call Information

Ryerson will host a conference call to discuss its fourth quarter and full-year results Thursday, February 25, 2021 at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. Participants may access the conference call by dialing (800) 458-4121 (U.S. & Canada) / (856) 344-9290 (International)and using conference ID 3061378. The live online broadcast will be available on the Company's investor relations website, ir.ryerson.com. A replay will be available at the same website for 90 days.

About Ryerson

Ryerson is a leading value-added processor and distributor of industrial metals, with operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and China. Founded in 1842, Ryerson has around 3,900 employees in approximately 100 locations. Visit Ryerson at www.ryerson.com.

Safe Harbor Provision

Certain statements made in this presentation and other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of the Company constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding our future performance, as well as management's expectations, beliefs, intentions, plans, estimates, objectives, or projections relating to the future. Such statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "objectives," "goals," "preliminary," "range," "believes," "expects," "may," "estimates," "will," "should," "plans," or "anticipates" or the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy. The Company cautions that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and may involve significant risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may vary materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Among the factors that significantly impact our business are: the cyclicality of our business; the highly competitive, volatile, and fragmented metals industry in which we operate; fluctuating metal prices; our substantial indebtedness and the covenants in instruments governing such indebtedness; the integration of acquired operations; regulatory and other operational risks associated with our operations located inside and outside of the United States; impacts and implications of adverse health events, including the COVID-19 pandemic; work stoppages; obligations under certain employee retirement benefit plans; the ownership of a majority of our equity securities by a single investor group; currency fluctuations; and consolidation in the metals industry. Forward-looking statements should, therefore, be considered in light of various factors, including those set forth above and those set forth under "Risk Factors" in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Moreover, we caution against placing undue reliance on these statements, which speak only as of the date they were made. The Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances, new information or otherwise.

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SOURCE Ryerson Holding Corporation