Schnitzer Slides on Surprise Q3 Loss

The company reported a loss of 5 cents per share, compared to the consensus forecast for a profit of 16 cents derived from 8 covering analysts.

Sales plunged 58% year over year to $412 million, strained by a 52% fall in average ferrous net selling prices and a 9% dip in ferrous processing volumes.

The steel industry has been severely affected by the deepening contraction in key steel-consuming sectors, such as construction and automobiles, amid the global economic downturn.

Looking ahead, Schnitzer expects pricing and sales volumes to improve in the fourth-quarter for its flagship metals recycling business.

Analysts, on average, expect a loss of 84 cents per share for the fiscal year ending August 2009, which has widened by 19 cents over the past 2 months.

SCHN, Zacks #3 Rank ("Hold") stock, is trading on unusually high volume of approximately 2.2 million, compared to the average daily volume of about 805,000.