U.S. Steel profit falls, but tops projections

U.S. Steel Corp. said Tuesday that first-quarter net income fell to $235 million, or $1.98 a share, from $273 million, or $2.30 a share, a year earlier.

But on average, analysts expected per-share earnings of $1.81 on revenue of $5.09 billion for the Pittsburgh steelmaker (NYSE:X).

In January, when U.S. Steel announced a sharp drop in fourth-quarter earnings, it said the first quarter would continue to reflect volatile costs and pricing.

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Sales rose 38 percent to $5.2 billion from $3.76 billion, helped by increases in the flat-rolled and European segments.

Looking ahead to the second quarter, Chairman and CEO John P. Surma said in a statement, "we expect that segment income from operations will increase substantially compared to the first quarter of 2008 as realized price increases are expected to surpass continuing increases in scrap and other raw materials costs."