MRC Global Earnings Miss Estimates, Sees Tough Year Ahead; Stock Plunges 10%

(RTTNews) - MRC Global Inc (MRC), a distributor of pipes, valves and fittings to the energy industry, on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $31.2 million or $0.30 per share compared with $23.3 million or $0.23 per share last year.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.33 per share compared with $0.32 per share a year ago. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.46 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the quarter were up 12.5% at $1.51 billion compared with $1.34 billion in the prior year. Analysts estimated revenues of $1.52 billion.

MRC's gross margin for the quarter fell to 16.4% from 16.8% last year.

For the full year 2015, MRC expects business conditions to be challenging. The company anticipates capital spending in North America to be down more than 35%, hurting its upstream business most directly, and to some extent, its midstream business as well. MRC said it would focus on cutting costs, reducing debt and optimizing working capital.