AK after the lockout: Stock at all-time high, profits soar

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.middletownjournal.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/business/2008/03/01/mj030108aksteel.html

By Jessica Lander-Heffner

Staff Writer

Saturday, March 01, 2008

WEST CHESTER TWP. — You wouldn't recognize AK Steel Corp. and its Middletown Works mill from a year ago.

"We are very proud that we have come as far as we have and avoided what many large steel companies didn't avoid. We didn't go bankrupt, we didn't walk away from retiree health care, we didn't walk away from Middletown," said AK Steel spokesman Alan McCoy.

Some in the city and within the company feared AK would not manage a smooth transition of bringing the locked-out union employees back to the mill to work alongside replacement workers.

Many were afraid of the future of the mill, especially after the company announced it would move its corporate headquarters — and 300 high-paying jobs and thousands of dollars in tax revenue — to West Chester Twp. a few days ahead of the end of the lockout.

"I think it is absolutely pivotal to acknowledge the role of the Machinists (union) in the smooth and quick transition following the end of the lockout. I think it shows that they are as interested as we are in Middletown Works being successful," McCoy said. "We're proud of them and the work they are doing there."

The state of the company's stock today is a testament to the recovery AK Steel has made since the lockout.

At the end of the lockout, their stock closed at $20.16. Now it has reached an all-time high, hitting $54.99 on Thursday, Feb. 27, during daily trading.

FULL story at link.