Steel & Tube profit lifts on property sales, low steel prices drag on earnings

Steel & Tube profit lifts on property sales, low steel prices drag on earnings
Sophie Boot
By Sophie Boot Feb. 18 (BusinessDesk) - Steel & Tube Holdings, the NZX-listed steel products distributor, lifted first-half profit 47 percent, although without income from property sales, their earnings fell as the price of steel continued to decline, fuelling intense competition. Net profit rose to $15.9 million, or 17.8 cents per share, from $10.8 million, or 12.4 cents, in the six months ended Dec. 31, but that included a $6 million one-time gain from the sale of its former processing facility on Bowden Road in Auckland's Mt Wellington...