Hard times plague RMI’s parent company

RTI International Metals reported a 50-percent drop in third-quarter sales and said it doesn’t expect titanium demand to pick up any time soon.

Dawne Hickton, company vice chairman, president and chief executive, said today that production delays of Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner commercial jet “continue to stress our company.”

She said she doesn’t expect demand to improve until the end of 2010 at the earliest.

RTI said that sales last quarter were $100.2 million, compared with $150.6 million in the third quarter of 2008.

It lost $8.7 million, or 35 cents a share, last quarter, though that included accounting charges of $9.6 million. It earned $11.3 million, or 49 cents a share, in the same quarter of last year.

RTI has moved its headquarters to suburban Pittsburgh but has retained administrative offices and a titanium mill in Weathersfield Township.

For more information, see Wednesday’s Vindicator or www.vindy.com.