Eagle Materials Inc. on May 5 reported financial results for fiscal year 2011 and the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31, 2011. Notable items for the fiscal year and quarter include the following:

• Fiscal year 2011 revenues of $462.2 million.
• Fiscal year 2011 net earnings of $14.8 million, or $0.34 per diluted share.
• Net debt-to-total capitalization ratio of 38 percent compared to 40 percent a year ago
• Fourth quarter revenues of $95.4 million.
• Fourth quarter net loss of $10.8 million, or $0.25 loss per diluted share.

An extended plant shutdown for maintenance and inventory control at our Illinois cement facility, combined with an exceptionally harsh winter in the Midwest, increased our fourth quarter cement operating costs by approximately $5.0 million (after-tax $0.08 per share). Additionally, our fourth quarter results reflect $10.7 million (after-tax $0.17 per share) of non-operating expenses.

About $8.9 million of these non-operating expenses are associated with the write-off of deferred project costs as a result of our decision not to proceed with the Nevada Cement modernization. The remaining non-operating expenses include the write down of unused aggregates equipment at the company’s Texas operation and other miscellaneous write downs.

Cement, Concrete and Aggregates

Fiscal 2011 operating earnings from Cement were $45.7 million, a decline of 21 percent compared to fiscal 2010. Revenues from Cement, including joint venture and intersegment sales, were $225.8 million for fiscal 2011, 1 percent lower than last year.

Cement revenues for the quarter, including joint venture and intersegment revenues, totaled $40.6 million, 1 percent greater than the same quarter last year. Cement sales volumes for the quarter were 445,000 tons, 1 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago. The average net sales price for this quarter was $82.32 per ton, slightly higher than the same quarter last year. Operating earnings from Cement for the fourth quarter were $4.7 million, a 15 percent decline from the same quarter a year ago.

Fiscal 2011 operating earnings from Concrete and Aggregates were $0.8 million, a decrease of 57 percent compared to fiscal 2010. Revenues from Concrete and Aggregates were $43.7 million for fiscal 2011, 3 percent lower than last year.

Concrete and Aggregates reported an operating loss of $0.1 million for this quarter down from the $0.1 million operating profit for the same quarter last year, primarily due to lower net sales prices for both Concrete and Aggregates slightly offset by improved sales volumes.