TimkenSteel to hire PricewaterhouseCoopers: What happened with its financial exploration?

By Staff Writer

Feb 20, 2016 08:14 PM EST

CHENGDU, CHINA - APRIL 14: (CHINA OUT) A steel-making factory of Pangang Group Chengdu Iron and Steel Co Ltd is under construction April 14, 2005 in Chengdu of Sichuan Province, China. Top global miner BHP Billiton Ltd./Plc. said on April 13 that it had dropped a planned surcharge of up to US$10.00 per ton on its iron ore exports to Chinese steelmakers and agreed to set the price rise at 71.5 percent, in line with its rivals. Analysts said BHP Billiton gave way to pressure from Chinese customers for fear of offending or even losing them. The Australian group had been pushing for a 100% price rise but was rejected by Chinese steel mills. China has become the largest iron ore import country in the world, analysts expect that China will import 250 million tons of iron ore this year. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images) (Photo : China Photos / Getty Images)

US steelmaker TimkenSteel Corp., hired PricewaterhouseCoopers, a finance and management consulting company, in its assessment effort to the recent low commodity prices.

TimkenSteel Corp. (TMST) along with the other four steelmaker companies was put in the investor's distressed watch list due to the low prices, according to The Street. The plunging was said to be caused by reduced demands and imports from oil and gas costumers.

There hasn't been any official statements nor disclosed information with regards to the matter so far, be it from the steelmakers's publicity releases, its executives, or even from the PricewaterhouseCoopers itself. According to Bloomberg, PwC spokesman Edward Caldwell refused to comment, while TimkenSteel Media Contact Joe Milicia only confirmed that the company hired an adviser without mentioning the name of its correspondent. It will also "evaluate additional financing options" said Milicia to Bloomberg.

This Ohio based company reported its Fourth-Quarter 2015 financial results in TimkenSteel's website stating five keypoints of their performance.

TMST's net sales of $206.6 million had decreased 11.2 percent sequentially, making them perform a reduced debt by $5 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. It ended the year of 2015 with a net debt position of $157.8 million and available liquidity of $84 million. The company also amended a $300 million credit agreement during the fourth quarter.

The Loss of Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) was that of $38.0 million, compared with adjusted EBIT income of $23.3 million for the same period a year ago and an EBIT loss of $48.9 million for the third-quarter 2015.

The company stated it completed actions to reduce costs, which are having positive impacts on it. "While we continue to feel the impact from weak global commodity markets and high customer inventory levels, our cost reduction efforts and pace of new business from innovation reduced the losses we anticipated in the quarter," said chairman, Tim Timken, in the release.

The CEO and President also stated in the release that the company is expecting this year to yet be a demanding one. They will also continue to be on cash generation while maintaining industry leading customer service. 

TimkenSteel Corp. has been engaging in steel manufacturing since 2013 and operating in two business segments such as Industrial & Mobile and Energy & Distribution segment. It was spun off from its former parent company, The Timken Company, effective as of June 30, 2014.

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