Texas Industries reports smaller 2Q loss

Texas Industries posts smaller fiscal 2nd-quarter loss on greater concrete and aggregate sales

DALLAS (AP) -- Cement and building materials supplier Texas Industries Inc. took a smaller loss in the fiscal second quarter as its sales increased.

The company late Wednesday reported greater sales of cement and of stone, sand and gravel aggregates. Its interest and restructuring costs also decreased compared to the year-ago quarter.

Texas Industries has taken a loss in 12 of the last 13 quarters. Over that three-year period its only quarterly profit came in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011. During that period the company gained extra income by selling some businesses and assets and forming a joint venture.

Over the three months ended Nov. 30, Texas Industries lost $11.1 million, or 40 cents per share. A year earlier it took a loss of $21 million, or 75 cents per share. The results from the most recent quarter included a one-time charge of 5 cents per share related to stock-based compensation. Its revenue rose 15 percent, to $167.7 million from $146.2 million.

Analysts expected the company to report a loss of 25 cents per share after adjusting for one-time items and $165.9 million in revenue, according to FactSet.

Texas Industries said revenue from cement business grew 18 percent to $91.4 million and revenue from its aggregates business rose 39 percent to $40.2 million. Consumer product sales declined 9 percent to $52.9 million because of the businesses the company sold and exited.

Shares of Texas Industries lost 26 cents to $55.71 in afternoon trading.