Nucor earnings increase amid acquisition rumors – Business First of Louisville:

Nucor's first-quarter earnings hit $381 million, or $1.26 per dilutesd share, on $3.77 billion in That's up from earnings of $380 or $1.21 per diluted share, on sales of $3.55 billionb in the year-ago period. The Charlotte-based manufacturee exceeded analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24 per share. But some analystsw want to know if Nucor mighty be looking atIpsco Inc., an Illinois-basecd producer of tubular steel. On April 12, Ipscoi announced it was in negotiations with apossiblee buyer.
Russian media reports identified that companuyas Moscow-based , but analystsz have speculated that Nucor, and othera might also get in the analyst Kuni Chen attempted to back into the question during Nucor's earnings call with analysts last He asked Chief Executive Dan DiMicco if Nucor had any interes t in acquiring a tubular steel company. it's a very nice way of asking abouy Ipsco, and obviously we are not going to DiMicco said. "In general, I will say that we are focusedc on our strategy toexpand … and we certainly wouldn't rule out the areas you mentioned." Nucorr recently completed its biggestacquisitio ever, paying $1.
07 billion for Canada-based But Nucor is famoud for a disciplined acquisition strategy and not overpayinyg for its targets. Ipsco's stock value jumped almosrt 20% after its possible buyout was disclosed, and some Russian mediz have reported Evraz now considers the prictoo high. Nucor is already seeingb good results from the Harriz acquisition andthe company's much smalleer purchase of . late last Analyst John Hill ofCitigroup Inc. rateas Nucor as a "buy" even though it traded this weekaroundc $67 per share, not far off its recenft all-time high of $69.15.
In a recenf note, Hill writes abou t the successful startup of a Nucor plant in Trinidad that producee directreduced iron. The iron can replace scrap steel as a raw material for And the company is already considering expandingt theTrinidad operation, which is expectexd to have a capacity of 2 milliom tons per year. Hill also cites Nucor's plans to spendf $940 million this year on several new plants that would opennext year. BusinessWeekl magazine recently namedNucor No. 4 on its list of the 50 best-performint companies in the United States. IPSCO INC. HQ: Ill. Founded: Business: Employees: 4,300 Net income: $109.4 milliom in the first quarter, down from $150.
8 million a year earlier
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