DALLAS, July 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE: EXP) today reported financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 ended June 30, 2008. Eagle produces and distributes Gypsum Wallboard, Cement, Recycled Paperboard and Concrete and Aggregates.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2008, revenues and net earnings were $176.8 million and $7.8 million, respectively. Diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 were $0.18. The continued contraction in U.S. homebuilding activity and escalating energy costs negatively impacted our wallboard sales prices and costs. In addition, our cement sales volumes were negatively impacted by adverse weather conditions in the Midwest. These factors are reflected in our consolidated net revenues, which declined by 20% from the prior year's first quarter, and our consolidated net earnings, which declined 79% from the same period last year.

Continued weak residential activity and low wallboard utilization rates during the quarter put downward pressure on wallboard sales volumes and prices. Industry wallboard shipments for the quarter were down 17% compared to the same period in the prior year and industry utilization rates continued to decline during the quarter. In addition, higher transportation and natural gas costs also put downward pressure on wallboard mill nets and margins. During the first 5 months of the calendar year, construction industry spending amounted to $417 billion, 5% below the $439 billion for the same period last year. Through the same time period, U.S. cement consumption is approximately 11% below last year's levels. Domestic manufacturers have reacted to the decline in demand by reducing foreign imported product.

GYPSUM WALLBOARD AND PAPERBOARD

Gypsum Wallboard and Paperboard revenues for the first quarter totaled $100.9 million, a 20% decrease from the $125.5 million for the same quarter a year ago. Gypsum Wallboard and Paperboard's first quarter net operating loss was $2.2 million compared with operating earnings of $31.5 million for the same quarter last year. Lower sales prices combined with higher energy, transportation and raw material costs, which increased approximately $20 per msf from the same period in the prior year, were the primary driver of the earnings decline. The average net sales price for this fiscal year's first quarter was $89.27 per MSF, 30% less than the $128.21 per MSF for the same quarter last year. Gypsum Wallboard sales volume of 646 million square feet (MMSF) for the quarter increased 1% from the prior year's first quarter. Excluding shipments from our new Georgetown wallboard plant, our gypsum wallboard volumes were down 15% from the prior year's first quarter.

CEMENT, CONCRETE AND AGGREGATES

Cement revenues, including joint venture and intersegment revenues, for the first quarter totaled $86.3 million, 11% less than the $97.1 million for the same quarter a year ago. Operating earnings from Cement declined 18% to $22.6 million for the first quarter this year from $27.6 million for the same quarter last year. The earnings decline was due primarily to lower sales volumes and a quarter to quarter shift in major maintenance at our Mountain Cement Plant. Cement sales volumes for the first quarter were 835,000 tons, 13% below the 963,000 tons for the same quarter last year. The majority of the sales volume decline occurred at our Illinois plant. We also dramatically reduced sales of purchased cement from our Nevada Cement plant. Eagle's purchased cement sales volumes for the quarter declined to approximately 167,000 tons, or 20% of total sales volume, versus approximately 195,000 tons in the prior year's first quarter. The average net sales price for this fiscal year's first quarter was a record $97.52 per ton, 1% greater than the $96.27 per ton for the same quarter last year.

Revenues from Concrete and Aggregates were $18.9 million for this year's first quarter, 21% less than the $24.1 million for the first quarter a year ago. Concrete and Aggregates reported a $2.1 million operating profit for this year's first quarter, down 48% from the same quarter last year, due primarily to lower sales volumes for both products. Concrete sales volume declined 16% for the first quarter this year to 177,000 cubic yards from 210,000 cubic yards for the same quarter last year. Our Concrete quarterly average net sales price of $74.29 per cubic yard for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 was 1% lower than the $75.19 per cubic yard for the first quarter a year ago. Our Aggregates operation reported sales volume of 798,000 tons for the current quarter, 31% less than the 1.2 million tons reported in the first quarter last year. Our Aggregates quarterly average net sales price was a record high $7.27 per ton during the first quarter and was 2% above last year's first quarter Aggregates average net sales price.

DETAILS OF FINANCIAL RESULTS

We conduct one of our cement plant operations through a 50/50 joint venture, Texas Lehigh Cement Company LP (the 'Joint Venture'). We utilize the equity method of accounting for our 50% interest in the Joint Venture. For segment reporting purposes only, we proportionately consolidate our 50% share of the Joint Venture's revenues and operating earnings, which is consistent with the way management organizes the segments within the Company for making operating decisions and assessing performance.

In addition, for segment reporting purposes, we report intersegment revenues as a part of a segment's total revenues. Intersegment sales are eliminated on the income statement.