 PITTSBURGH, Aug. 04, 2020 GLOBE NEWSWIRE -- L.B. Foster Company NASDAQ: FSTR, a leading manufacturer and distributor of products and provider of services for transportation and energy infrastructure, today reported its second quarter of 2020 operating results, which included the following performance highlights: The Company previously announced a number of actions being taken to address the significant weakness in the energy markets. Restructuring and closure costs during the second quarter of 2020 amounted to 7.0 million, negatively impacting results. Second quarter of 2020 net income was 0.5 million, or 0.05 per diluted share, a decrease of 0.85 per diluted share from the prior year quarter. Adjusted net income1 for the second quarter of 2020 was 4.4 million, or 0.41 per adjusted diluted share1. Adjusted net income1 excludes restructuring, relocation, and closure charges and a non-recurring benefit of 1.9 million from a distribution associated with the Companys interest in an unconsolidated partnership. Net sales for the second quarter of 2020 decreased by 55.2 million, or 27.5, from the prior year quarter to 145.8 million. However, net sales increased from the first quarter of 2020 by 17.0 million, or 13.2. New orders for the second quarter of 2020 were 138.3 million, a decline of 15.7 from the prior year quarter. The decline was primarily attributed to the Tubular and Energy Services Tubular and Energy segment. Order volume increased as the quarter progressed and certain pandemic-related restrictions were lifted. This volume drove a backlog increase of 7.9 compared to the prior year quarter to 225.9 million. Gross profit for the second quarter of 2020 was 27.1 million, a decline of 27.1 from the prior year quarter. Gross profit margin was 18.6 for the second quarter of 2020, improving 180 basis points from the first quarter of 2020. Adjusted EBITDA1 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and certain charges for the quarter was 11.8 million, a decrease of 5.4 million from the prior year quarter and an increase of 8.7 million from the first quarter of 2020. Net cash provided by operating activities for the quarter totaled 13.0 million, an improvement of 8.9 million from the prior year quarter. Net debt1 total debt less cash and cash equivalents decreased by 9.6 million from March 31, 2020 to 48.2 million as of June 30, 2020.1 See Non-GAAP Disclosures at the end of this press release for information regarding the following non-GAAP measures used in this release: adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per diluted share, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, net debt, and adjusted net leverage ratio.Impact of COVID-19 Beginning in March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, several national, state, provincial, and local state of emergency orders were declared that included significant restrictive measures in the countries and other jurisdictions in which the Company sells, manufactures, or services products and systems. The Company was widely considered an essential business under these governmental orders and as such, was allowed to continue operations in the respective jurisdictions. In response, the Company adopted its Pandemic Action Plan, pursuant to which the Company implemented a range of enhanced safety protocols recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and recommendations of applicable non-U.S. governments and authorities in order to mitigate the spread of the virus while the Company continued its operations in various locations.During the second quarter, the Company experienced disruptions in supply chains, delays in deliveries to customers, and customer unwillingness to have L.B. Foster employees work on site, as well as general weakness in demand as stay-at-home orders were lengthened by most global, national, and regional authorities.Despite some easing of initial restrictive measures during the second quarter of 2020, the Company anticipates continued disruption in the third quarter of 2020 and possibly beyond as various restrictive measures have remained in effect in the major markets we serve. The Company has experienced minimal disruption with its on-premise workforce up to this point, and the Company expects to continue to operate under its pandemic protocols with minimal changes. The Rail Products and Services Rail and Construction Products Construction segments reported order activity during the second quarter that was roughly flat with the prior year despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and continued to experience steady proposal activity. The energy market continues to have an unfavorable outlook and the industry expects significant difficulties in funding ongoing development activity that requires the Companys services. As such, the Company has revised its outlook for the energy market and is forecasting sales to decline significantly year-over-year for its Tubular and Energy segment. On a year-to-date basis compared to the prior year period, sales have declined 28.4 and orders have declined 50.0 in the Tubular and Energy segment.The Companys strong balance sheet should continue to allow the Company to effectively manage through the current environment and remain a leading provider of products and services to the global infrastructure markets. The Companys Adjusted Net Leverage Ratio1 was 1.5x as of June 30, 2020, with total available funding capacity of over 70.0 million as of June 30, 2020.CEO Comments Bob Bauer, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, We were very pleased with the sequential improvement in adjusted net income and adjusted EBITDA during the second quarter given the challenging market conditions presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Order activity in both the Rail and Construction segments remained steady during the second quarter, and we remain cautiously optimistic that these segments should see improvement from this point forward through the second half of 2020. Additionally, our backlog continues to be very robust, increasing by approximately 16.6 million on a consolidated basis, and increasing 29.7 million in the combined Rail and Construction segments as compared to the second quarter of 2019, helping support our cautious optimism for the second half of 2020.Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Bauer stated, We expect our strong balance sheet and solid operating cash flow performance to help us effectively deal with the current environment. We also believe that the actions that were undertaken in the Test, Inspection, and Threading Services division of the Tubular and Energy segment during the second quarter will reduce the unfavorable impact this division has been having on operating results as we continue to face challenging dynamics in the oil and gas market caused by the pandemic. We will continue to place a priority on actions intended to insulate the Company from energy market volatility, principally from the upstream market segment.Second Quarter Results Second quarter of 2020 net sales of 145.8 million decreased by 55.2 million, or 27.5, compared to the prior year quarter. The sales decrease was attributable to each of the Companys three segments, with the Tubular and Energy, Rail, and Construction segments declining by 34.7, 26.1, and 24.2 respectively, from the prior year quarter. The decline in revenue was primarily driven by circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, including its resulting effect on the already-weakened demand for crude oil, which impacted the Tubular and Energy segment. The pandemic also impacted the Rail segment, causing reduced demand for its friction management consumables, delays in new rail and transit projects, and a work stoppage on Londons Crossrail project due to stay-at-home orders. The Construction segment was primarily impacted by reduced volumes within the Piling Products division when compared to the prior year quarter, as 2019 had significant activity related to the Port Everglades project. Second quarter of 2020 gross profit of 27.1 million decreased by 10.1 million, or 27.1, from the prior year quarter. Gross profit of the three segments declined from the prior year quarter, primarily as a result of reduced sales volumes. Consolidated gross profit margin of 18.6 increased by 10 basis points when compared to the prior year quarter, and 180 basis points compared to the first quarter of 2020. The Rail segments increase in gross profit margin compared to the prior year quarter was driven by higher margin projects in Rail Products and a 10 basis point improvement in Rail Technologies despite much lower volume during the current year quarter. This was partially offset by the decrease in the Tubular and Energy segments gross profit margin, which was primarily driven by weakness in sales within the Test, Inspection, and Threading Services division as exploration and production companies continued to reduce drilling activity in the U.S. Net income for the second quarter of 2020 was 0.5 million, or 0.05 per diluted share, compared to 9.6 million, or 0.90 per diluted share, in the prior year quarter. Adjusted net income1 for the second quarter of 2020 was 4.4 million, or 0.41 per adjusted diluted share1. Adjusted net income1 for the second quarter of 2020 excludes restructuring, relocation, and closure charges of 7.0 million and a non-recurring benefit of 1.9 million from a distribution associated with the Companys interest in an unconsolidated partnership. Second quarter adjusted EBITDA1 was 11.8 million, a decrease of 31.5 compared to the prior year quarter, and an increase of 8.7 million sequentially from the first quarter of 2020. Selling and administrative expenses in the second quarter decreased by 3. 