AK Steel Gains In Extended Session On Q4 Profit Outlook

AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) shares rose in the extended session after the company said fourth-quarter earnings will be higher than expected despite a 10 percent decline in its selling prices.The West Chester, Ohio-based company gained more than 7 percent recently, changing hands at $5.95 a share. Competitors in the sector were little changed in the extended session.AK expects to post net income for the quarter ending Dec. 31 of $0.05 cents and $0.10 cents a share, versus analysts' prediction of $0.04 cents a share on revenue of $1.96 billion.AK said fourth-quarter shipments will grow 37 percent from a year earlier to an estimated 2 million tons, with most of the increase resulting from its acquisition of Dearborn Works completed in September, as well as continued strong demand from the automotive market.Prices for the period are estimated 10 percent lower than a year earlier at an estimated $980 per ton, because of a higher percentage of shipments to the carbon spot market where prices declined.A planned outage at its Ashland Works blast furnace in October included capital investments of $19 million as well as $31 million of costs associated with lower production.AK said it expects a "significant increase" in its pension and post-employment benefit obligations resulting from new mortality tables issued in October by the Society of Actuaries.The company added, however, that it hasn't determined whether it will record an unrecognized actuarial net gain or loss in the fourth quarter.