Outages and Weather Reduce Q1 Results for AK Steel

AK Steel expects to report a net loss of $0.44 to $0.49 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2014 due to outages and weather related energy costs, according to earnings guidance released by the company.

Significant costs of $47 million resulted from the unplanned outage of the Ashland Works blast furnace and planned maintenance for the facility that was moved from second quarter to first quarter. The extreme winter weather added an additional $30 million of energy costs for electricity and natural gas during the quarter. AK Steel also incurred a $5.8 million charge for tentative settlement of pending litigation.