Precision Castparts Corp., Portland, OR, reported sales for the fourth quarter 2009 were $1.6 billion, down from $1.8 billion in the year-ago period.
 
Fiscal 2009 sales were $6.8 billion, an increase of $0.1 billion over fiscal 2008 sales. Profit was $1,044.5 million. Including discontinued operations, profit was $260.3 million.
 
Investment Cast Products had fourth-quarter sales of $540.1 million, down from $578.6 million in the year-ago period. Sales were $2.3 billion in fiscal 2009, up slightly from $2.2 billion in fiscal 2008.
 
Forged Products fourth-quarter sales were $678 million, down from $810 million in the year-ago period. Fiscal 2009 sales were $3 billion, down from $3.2 billion a year ago.
 
Fastener Products sales in the fourth quarter were $386.3 million, up from $377.7 million in the year-ago period. Fiscal 2009 sales were $1.6 billion, up from fiscal 2008 sales of $1.4 billion.
 
During our fourth quarter, we faced some strong headwinds – slower-than-expected recovery from the Boeing strike, lower metal selling prices, and weakening foreign currencies, and our operations were equal to the challenge, said CEO Mark Donegan.
 
“During the first quarter and into the second quarter of fiscal 2010, our aerospace customers are making corrections to their inventories that will take some anticipated growth out of their schedules and will impact each of our three operating segments. 
 
"The second quarter will also have its seasonal challenges of scheduled forge shutdowns for maintenance and extended holidays in our European operations. All of our efforts will be directed at minimizing the impact to our results Looking beyond these headwinds, however, we regain traction, and we see sales and margin growth resuming in our third and fourth quarters as the base build schedules start to stabilize, and 787 production work begins.
 
“However, we are not just a commercial aerospace company. IGT aftermarket sales are growing, and we continue to gain market share and expand our customer base, countering any softening in our base OEM sales. The seamless pipe market for large coal-fired power plants remains stable. In addition, we are utilizing all of our Forged Products’ assets, both at Wyman-Gordon and at Special Metals, to attack new markets and steadily grow positions where we’ve had little to no share in the past.”