By Mike Boyer
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Darrell Greene, a utility burner at the Newport Steel Corp. plant in Wilder, uses a cutting torch to crop scrap steel off a pipe. (Meggan Booker photo)

NEWPORT - Cost cutting and rising demand for its drilling pipe helped NS Group Inc. post a sharply lower operating loss in the fourth quarter.

The operating loss for the three months ended Dec. 31 was $439,000 compared with $14.5 million a year ago.

With the help of $4 million from a legal settlement and $567,000 from steel dumping payments, the parent of Wilder's Newport Steel posted a profit of $3.5 million, or 17 cents a share, in the latest quarter on sales of $69 million. The results were released after Tuesday's market close. NS Group's shares closed at $8.94, up three cents.

In the fourth quarter last year, NS Group reported a net loss of $14.2 million, or 69 cents a share, on sales of $41.4 million.

Rene Robichaud, president and CEO, said the company's operating results improved in each quarter last year.

The average rig count, a measure of pipe demand, was 1,109 in the fourth quarter compared with 846 a year ago.

NS Group's cost-cutting included the layoff of 90 employees at the Wilder mill in December and the transfer of some operations to a sister company in Pennsylvania. A spokeswoman said none of those workers has been recalled. The company employs about 230 in Northern Kentucky.

For the year, NS Group reported a net loss of $17.3 million, or 83 cents a share, less than half the loss of $39.9 million, or $1.93 a share, in the prior year.

Total revenues last year rose to $258.9 million from $192.4 million in the prior year.

Robichaud said the company expects to be profitable for the three months ended in March and is upbeat about the rest of this year.

The improving economy, higher energy prices and relatively low drilling-tube inventories all indicate the company should maintain healthy profit margins despite rising steel prices, he said.

• Pomeroy IT Solutions: The Hebron computer sales and service provider reported higher revenues and net earnings for the fourth quarter.

For the three months ended Jan. 5, Pomeroy said net income was $2.98 million, or 24 cents a share, up from $625,000, or five cents a share, a year ago after a net $2.07 million increase in reserves for manufacturers' receivables.

Excluding the reserve, Pomeroy reported earnings of 21 cents a share in the fourth quarter last year.

Pomeroy released results after its stock ended Tuesday trading at $15, up 12 cents.

Fourth-quarter revenues rose 9 percent to $163 million from $149 million a year ago.

For the year, Pomeroy said total sales and earnings declined.

Net income slipped to $9.07 million, or 73 cents a share, from $15 million, or $1.18 a share, in the prior year after the increased reserve and other adjustments.

Full-year revenue slipped 15 percent to $598 million from $703 million in the prior year. The company said it is focusing on cost control, increasing market share and better asset management.

E-mail mboyer@enquirer.com