For the second quarter in a row, and the fifth over its last seven frames, metallurgy giant U.S. Steel (X +0.00%) has posted a net loss. The company's Q2 saw it record net sales of $4.4 billion, down from $5.0 billion in the same period the previous year. Net loss was $78 million ($0.54 per diluted share), compared to Q2 2012's profit of $101 million ($0.62).
Analysts had been expecting a top line of just under $4.6 billion and a per-share loss of $0.80.
In discussing the Q2 results, Chairman and CEO John Surma said they were negatively affected by sluggish global economic growth, in addition to an ongoing labor action at the firm's Lake Erie Works plant in Canada. He said that U.S. Steel's flat-rolled and tubular products should perform better in Q3.
