Encore Wire Corp. (NASDAQ Global Select: WIRE), McKinney, TX, reported sales for first quarter of $265.4 million, a decrease of 5.4 percent compared to the same period a year earlier. Profit decreased 4.5 percent to $6.4 million.
The average selling price of wire per copper pound sold dropped 5.3 percent in the first quarter versus the prior year, accounting for most of the decline in sales. Copper unit volume, measured in pounds of copper contained in the wire sold, decreased 3.1 percent year-over-year. Aluminum building wire sales made up 5.7 percent of sales for the first quarter of 2013 versus 2.9 percent in the first quarter of 2012.
“We believe our expansion of product offerings over the last six years to our existing customer base has been critical to maintaining and perhaps boosting our market share,” Daniel L. Jones, president and CEO, said. Jones said volumes were comparable to prior periods and may have been held down somewhat by lingering winter weather in the first quarter.
