Dow Jones Newswires | A.M. Castle & Co.’s fourth-quarter loss narrowed following a $58.9
million year-earlier write-down as the company’s sales dropped sharply.

“While we are disappointed with our financial results for the fourth
quarter and the full year 2009, we believe an increase in daily shipping
rates throughout the second half of 2009 and early 2010 indicate that
we are on a path to recovery,” said President and Chief Executive
Michael Goldberg.

The distributor of specialty metal and plastics that companies used in other products has struggled of late, citing continued demand weakness because of the global recession as it has posted three straight quarterly losses. The company in October said it began to see signs of stabilization in the third quarter.

A.M. Castle reported a loss of $15.5 million, or 68 cents a share, from a year-earlier loss of $53.6 million, or $2.37. The latest quarter included $14.4 million of write-downs and inventory charges. Revenue dropped 44% to $181.3 million amid a 46% plunge in the larger metal’s segment.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast a loss of 26 cents on $190 million in revenue.

Gross margin fell to 19.2% from 23%.

Shares closed at $13.38 Tuesday and were inactive premarket.