A. M. Castle & Co. Signs Memorandum of Agreement With Lockheed Martin for Multi-Year Contract Extension for JSF Program

FRANKLIN PARK, Ill., April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A. M. Castle & Co. (NYSE: CAS), a global distributor of specialty metal and plastic products, value-added services and supply chain solutions, announced today that it recently signed a memorandum of agreement with Lockheed Martin to enter into a six-year contract extension for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program.  

The contract extension contemplated by the memorandum of agreement is subject to the issuance of a purchase order by Lockheed Martin and would extend Castle's current contract through 2016 for the supply of aluminum plate and cut–to-size aluminum plate products and various value-added processing and collaborative supply chain management services.  Based on the JSF program's current production schedule, the total potential value of the anticipated contract extension is estimated to exceed $300 million over the six-year term.      

Michael Goldberg, A. M. Castle's President and Chief Executive Officer, said: "We appreciate the opportunity that Lockheed Martin has given the Company to continue to provide aluminum plate and services in support of this critical defense program.  We look forward to continuing to provide high-quality service to them."

"The memorandum of agreement is a testament to the service commitment of the A. M. Castle team and to the breadth of our supply chain management services and solutions," said Blain Tiffany, President of Castle Metals Aerospace business.

"We have worked with Lockheed Martin throughout the initial phases of the JSF program and appreciate the continued confidence in our ability to supply them and their program partners with products and services across North America, Europe, Turkey and Australia as the program moves into the initial production phase," added Tiffany.  The program's current production schedule forecasts increasing production rates during the term of the anticipated contract extension, with full rate production beginning in 2016.

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, located in Fort Worth, TX, is the JSF team's prime contractor and is allied with its principal program partners, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems.

About A. M. Castle & Co.

Founded in 1890, A. M. Castle & Co. is a global distributor of specialty metal and plastic products and value-added services and supply chain solutions, principally serving the producer durable equipment sector of the economy. Its customer base includes many Fortune 500 companies as well as thousands of medium and smaller-sized firms spread across a variety of industries. Within its core metals business, it specializes in the distribution of alloy and stainless steels; nickel alloys; aluminum and carbon. Through its subsidiary, Total Plastics, Inc., the Company also distributes a broad range of value-added industrial plastics. Together, Castle operates over 55 locations throughout North America and Europe.  To learn more about A.M. Castle & Co., please visit the company's website at www.amcastle.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Information provided and statements contained in this news release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("Securities Act"), Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("Exchange Act"), and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Such forward-looking statements only speak as of the date of this news release and the Company assumes no obligation to update the information included in this news release. Such forward-looking statements include information concerning our possible or assumed future results, plans or prospects, including statements about the estimated potential value of the JSF contract extension and work performed, and other statements containing the words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "predict," "plan," or similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of performance or results, and they involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions.  Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there are many factors that could affect our actual financial results or results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including, among other things, the risk that Lockheed Martin fails to issue a purchase order to extend the contract or our inability to reach final contractual agreement with Lockheed Martin on the terms of such purchase order, the risk of the termination of the JSF program or delay in its implementation, failure to receive orders for materials under the Company's contract with Lockheed at the forecasted rate,  termination of such contract, or such other risk factors identified in Item 1A "Risk Factors" of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009.   Except for our ongoing obligations to disclose material information as required by the federal securities laws, we do not have any obligations or intention to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances in the future or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE A. M. Castle & Co.