Metallus to Purchase Group Annuity Contract for Pension Benefits

Rhea-AI Summary

Metallus (NYSE: MTUS) announced an agreement to purchase a group annuity contract from Prudential to terminate the TimkenSteel Retirement Plan, settling around $121 million of pension obligations. This move impacts about 1,000 plan participants, with Prudential starting benefit payments on August 1, 2024. The transaction involves no cash contribution from Metallus and is expected to reduce its U.S. pension obligation by $124 million, reflecting a 20% reduction. Additionally, Metallus anticipates a $3 million non-cash pension settlement gain in Q2.

Positive

• Termination of the Salaried Pension Plan reduces U.S. pension obligations by $124 million, or 20%.
• Metallus expects a $3 million non-cash pension settlement gain in Q2.
• The transaction requires no cash contribution from Metallus.
• Prudential, a highly rated insurance company, will handle future benefit payments.
• Strengthening of Metallus' balance sheet through de-risking of legacy pension plans.

Negative

• Termination of the Salaried Pension Plan might create uncertainty for affected employees.
• Potential concerns about the transition process and customer service for participants.

Insights

Financial Analyst

The termination of the Salaried Pension Plan and purchase of a group annuity contract from Prudential is a significant financial maneuver for Metallus Inc. This action reduces their pension obligation by approximately $124 million, which amounts to about 20% of their total pension liabilities. For retail investors, this move signals a strengthening of the company's balance sheet and a reduction in long-term liabilities. This de-risking strategy is likely to improve Metallus' financial stability and possibly enhance shareholder value in the long run. Additionally, the $3 million non-cash pension settlement gain expected in Q2 could provide a short-term boost to the company's financials.

However, investors should be aware that while the transaction does not require a cash contribution, relying on existing assets for the annuity purchase could impact Metallus' liquidity. It’s important to monitor how the company's overall cash flow and investment strategies evolve post-transaction.

Pension Expert

From a pension management perspective, the decision to annuitize the Salaried Pension Plan aligns with best practices for de-risking pension obligations. By transferring the responsibility of future benefits to a highly rated insurer like Prudential, Metallus Inc. mitigates the risk associated with managing these plans internally. This move ensures stable and reliable benefit payments for the approximately 1,000 participants, which is reassuring for current and future retirees.

This kind of transaction is becoming more common as companies seek to manage longevity risk and regulatory compliance more efficiently. Investors should view this action as a prudent step in long-term corporate risk management, enhancing sustainability and predictability of the company's financial commitments.

CANTON, Ohio, May 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Metallus Inc. (NYSE: MTUS), a leader in high-quality specialty metals, manufactured components and supply chain solutions, on May 15, 2024, entered into an agreement to purchase a group annuity contract from The Prudential Insurance Company of America ("Prudential") in connection with the termination of the TimkenSteel Corporation Retirement Plan (the "Salaried Pension Plan"). The Salaried Pension Plan termination settles approximately $121 million of the company's remaining U.S. pension obligations.

Prudential will pay future benefits under the group annuity contract starting August 1, 2024, for the remaining approximately 1,000 participants in the Salaried Pension Plan. Prudential is a highly rated insurance company and was selected by the Salaried Pension Plan's fiduciary, with the advice of an independent expert.

"Prudential was carefully selected as a highly rated and experienced retirement benefits provider," said Kris Westbrooks, Metallus' executive vice president and chief financial officer. "Following the Bargaining Pension Plan partial annuitization in 2022, the termination of the Salaried Pension Plan is another significant step towards strengthening our balance sheet and de-risking our legacy pension plans."

Benefits payable to Salaried Pension Plan participants will not be reduced as a result of this transaction. The group annuity contract is an irrevocable commitment by Prudential to make annuity payments to participants covered under the contract. All Salaried Pension Plan participants have been notified of the termination of the Salaried Pension Plan and those with remaining benefit entitlements will receive additional information in the future regarding the group annuity contract, including customer service details to address any questions they may have.

The group annuity contract will be purchased using existing assets of the Salaried Pension Plan and requires no cash contribution from the company. The termination of the Salaried Pension Plan is expected to reduce Metallus' U.S. pension obligation by approximately $124 million, or 20% percent. The company expects to realize a non-cash pension settlement gain of approximately $3 million in the second quarter.

The Salaried Pension Plan's fiduciaries, with the assistance of an independent expert, conducted an objective and thorough analysis of Prudential to ensure it met all regulatory guidelines, has the sufficient capacity, creditworthiness, and administrative claims-paying capabilities to meet its obligations under the group annuity contract, and that the purchase of the group annuity contract was otherwise in accordance with applicable law and U.S. Department of Labor guidelines.

ABOUT PRUDENTIAL
Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a global financial services leader and premier active global investment manager with approximately $1.5 trillion in assets under management as of March 31, 2024, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees help make lives better and create financial opportunity for more people by expanding access to investing, insurance, and retirement security. Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise, and innovation for nearly 150 years. For more information, please visit news.prudential.com.

ABOUT METALLUS INC.
Metallus Inc. (NYSE: MTUS) manufactures high-performance specialty metals from recycled scrap metal in Canton, OH, serving demanding applications in industrial, automotive, aerospace & defense and energy end markets. The company is a premier U.S. producer of alloy steel bars (up to 16 inches in diameter), seamless mechanical tubing and manufactured components. In the business of making high-quality steel for more than 100 years, Metallus' proven expertise contributes to the performance of our customers' products. The company employs approximately 1,860 people and had sales of $1.4 billion in 2023. For more information, please visit us at www.metallus.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release includes "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. You can generally identify the company's forward-looking statements by words such as "will," "anticipate," "aspire," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "outlook," "intend," "may," "plan," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project," "seek," "target," "should," "would," "strategy," or "strategic direction" or other similar words, phrases or expressions that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. The company cautions readers that actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the company due to a variety of factors, such as: (1) the effects of fluctuations in customer demand on sales, product mix and prices in the industries in which the company operates, including the ability of the company to respond to rapid changes in customer demand including but not limited to changes in customer operating schedules due to supply chain constraints or unplanned work stoppages, the ability of customers to obtain financing to purchase the company's products or equipment that contains its products, the effects of customer bankruptcies or liquidations, the impact of changes in industrial business cycles, and whether conditions of fair trade exist in U.S. markets; (2) changes in operating costs, including the effect of changes in the company's manufacturing processes, changes in costs associated with varying levels of operations and manufacturing capacity, availability of raw materials and energy, the company's ability to mitigate the impact of fluctuations in raw materials and energy costs and the effectiveness of its surcharge mechanism, changes in the expected costs associated with product warranty claims, changes resulting from inventory management, cost reduction initiatives and different levels of customer demands, the effects of unplanned work stoppages, availability of skilled labor and changes in the cost of labor and benefits; (3) the success of the company's operating plans, announced programs, initiatives and capital investments, the consistency to meet demand levels following unplanned downtime, and the company's ability to maintain appropriate relations with the union that represents its associates in certain locations in order to avoid disruptions of business; (4) whether the company is able to successfully implement actions designed to improve profitability on anticipated terms and timetables and whether the company is able to fully realize the expected benefits of such actions; (5) the company's pension obligations and investment performance; (6) with respect to the company's ability to achieve its sustainability goals, including its 2030 environmental goals, the ability to meet such goals within the expected timeframe, changes in laws, regulations, prevailing standards or public policy, the alignment of the scientific community on measurement and reporting approaches, the complexity of commodity supply chains and the evolution of and adoption of new technology, including traceability practices, tools and processes; (7) availability of property insurance coverage at commercially reasonable rates or insufficient insurance coverage to cover claims or damages; (8) the availability of financing and interest rates, which affect the company's cost of funds and/or ability to raise capital; (9) the effects of the conditional conversion feature of the convertible notes due December 1, 2025, which, if triggered, entitles holders to convert the notes at any time during specified periods at their option and therefore could result in potential dilution if the holder elects to convert and the company elects to satisfy a portion or all of the conversion obligation by delivering common shares instead of cash; (10) the impacts from any repurchases of our common shares, including the timing and amount of any repurchases; (11) competitive factors, including changes in market penetration, increasing price competition by existing or new foreign and domestic competitors, the introduction of new products by existing and new competitors, and new technology that may impact the way the company's products are sold or distributed; (12) deterioration in global economic conditions, or in economic conditions in any of the geographic regions in which the company conducts business, including additional adverse effects from global economic slowdown, terrorism or hostilities, including political risks associated with the potential instability of governments and legal systems in countries in which the company or its customers conduct business, and changes in currency valuations; (13) the impact of global conflicts on the economy, sourcing of raw materials, and commodity prices; (14) climate-related risks, including environmental and severe weather caused by climate changes, and legislative and regulatory initiatives addressing global climate change or other environmental concerns; (15) unanticipated litigation, claims or assessments, including claims or problems related to intellectual property, product liability or warranty, employment matters, regulatory compliance and environmental issues and taxes, among other matters; (16) cyber-related risks, including information technology system failures, interruptions and security breaches; (17) the potential impact of pandemics, epidemics, widespread illness or other health issues; and (18) with respect to the continuous bloom reheat furnace investment, whether the funding awarded to support this investment is received on the anticipated timetable, whether the company is able to successfully complete the installation and commissioning of the new assets on the targeted budget and timetable, and whether the anticipated increase in throughput is achieved. Further, this news release represents our current policy and intent and is not intended to create legal rights or obligations. Certain standards of measurement and performance contained in this news release are developing and based on assumptions, and no assurance can be given that any plan, objective, initiative, projection, goal, mission, commitment, expectation or prospect set forth in this news release can or will be achieved. Inclusion of information in this news release is not an indication that the subject or information is material to our business or operating results.

Additional risks relating to the company's business, the industries in which the company operates, or the company's common shares may be described from time to time in the company's filings with the SEC. All of these risk factors are difficult to predict, are subject to material uncertainties that may affect actual results and may be beyond the company's control. Readers are cautioned that it is not possible to predict or identify all of the risks, uncertainties and other factors that may affect future results and that the above list should not be considered to be a complete list. Except as required by the federal securities laws, the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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SOURCE Metallus Inc.

FAQ

What is Metallus' stock symbol?

Metallus' stock symbol is MTUS.

When did Metallus announce the group annuity contract agreement?

Metallus announced the agreement on May 20, 2024.

What is the value of the U.S. pension obligations settled by the annuity contract?

The annuity contract settles approximately $121 million of pension obligations.

When will Prudential start making benefit payments to the Salaried Pension Plan participants?

Prudential will start making benefit payments on August 1, 2024.

How will the termination of the Salaried Pension Plan financially impact Metallus?

The termination is expected to reduce Metallus' U.S. pension obligation by approximately $124 million and result in a non-cash pension settlement gain of $3 million in Q2.

Will the Salaried Pension Plan participants see a reduction in their benefits?

No, the benefits payable to participants will not be reduced as a result of this transaction.

Did Metallus need to make a cash contribution for the group annuity contract?

No, the purchase of the group annuity contract requires no cash contribution from Metallus.