AM Castle : 5/15/17 - A. M. Castle & Co. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results and Announces Next Step in Financial Restructuring

1420 Kensington Road

Suite 220 Oak Brook, IL 60523 P: (847) 455-7111

F: (847) 241-8171

M. CASTLE & CO. REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2017 RESULTS AND ANNOUNCES NEXT STEP IN FINANCIAL RESTRUCTURING

Company Announces Positive EBITDA Leading to Strongest Quarter in More than Three Years and Updates on

Restructuring Process

• Reduced first quarter 2017 operating loss to $2.3 million, compared to an operating loss of $23.5 million in fourth quarter 2016 and an operating loss of $26.9 million in first quarter 2016, a 91% year-over-year improvement;

• Reduced first quarter 2017 loss from continuing operations to $13.5 million, compared to a loss of $29.7 million in fourth quarter 2016 and a loss of $44.8 million in first quarter 2016, a 70% year-over-year improvement;

• Achieved first quarter 2017 positive EBITDA of $1.0 million and adjusted EBITDA of $1.7 million, the first positive adjusted EBITDA quarter in more than three years;

• Improved first quarter 2017 EBITDA by $31.4 million and Adjusted EBITDA by $13.3 million compared to first quarter 2016;

• Improved gross material margin and adjusted gross material margin to 25.7% in first quarter 2017, compared to gross material margin of 14.3% and 18.4% in fourth quarter 2016 and first quarter 2016, respectively, and adjusted gross material margin of 25.1% and 22.3% in those same respective periods;

• Reduced operating expenses to $37.2 million in first quarter 2017 from $39.7 million in fourth quarter 2016, equal to a reduction of 26% per ton sold, and $57.0 million in first quarter 2016, which included restructuring charges of $11.7 million; and

• Commences solicitation of votes on proposed Prepackaged Joint Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization.

President and CEO Steve Scheinkman commented, "We are pleased to report A.M. Castle achieved positive Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations during the first quarter, for the first time in over three years. As expected, our gross material margin ended the quarter at 25.7%, which is also one of the highest results in several periods. We believe the positive financial results demonstrate the potential for A.M. Castle, and our financial restructuring plan that was announced on April 7, 2017, including the next steps we are announcing today, will only help to solidify that potential, resulting in an improved balance sheet that will allow the Company to properly invest more in our business and our people. In furtherance of these developments, our first-lien lending group recently demonstrated their belief in the Castle business by accelerating our access to the remaining $12.5 million of liquidity under our existing credit facilities."

Scheinkman continued, "Consistent with the timing outlined in our April 7, 2017 announcement, today the Company commenced solicitation of votes on a proposed Prepackaged Joint Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization (the "Plan") by distributing the Plan, a Disclosure Statement describing the Plan, and ballots to certain creditors entitled to vote under the Plan. As we also noted in our April 7 announcement, we believe completing our comprehensive financial restructuring via the Plan will limit disruption to the

business and minimize certain costs and unfavorable tax results. Further, as previously agreed with more than 92% of the Company's secured creditors in the Restructuring Support Agreement announced on April 7, the Plan contemplates that the Company will continue to operate in the ordinary course of its business, including timely shipments to customers and payments to vendors within terms. The Company has also entered into new employment agreements with key executives whose leadership has resulted in the Company's recent improved operating results and who are committed to completing the restructuring this summer and driving the Company's future growth, providing further stability to our now improving business."

Additional information on the Plan, Disclosure Statement, and new management agreements is available in the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission today.

Scheinkman concluded, "With respect to the underlying business, we continue to expect the Aerospace markets to remain stable and for business to improve, particularly where we have long-term contracts. While demand has improved in the Industrial market, we still do not yet see significant growth at our larger contractual customers. However, we continue to see a positive trend in transactional business, and we plan to take advantage of the opportunity to grow our market share in this business, as we did in 2016 and in the first quarter of 2017."

Net sales in the first quarter 2017 were $135.9 million, a decrease of $27.9 million, or 17.0%, compared to first quarter 2016 net sales of $163.8 million, which included the Company's $27.1 million sale of inventory at its Houston and Edmonton facilities to an unrelated third party at a zero gross margin. Including that sale of inventory, net sales from the Houston and Edmonton locations, which were closed in February 2016, were $33.0 million. Despite the closure of these two locations, the Company posted a 5.7% increase in tons sold per day in the first quarter 2017 compared to the first quarter 2016. Excluding the tons sold from the Houston and Edmonton locations in the first quarter 2016, tons sold per day increased 10.6%. The Company shipped 1.388 million pounds per day in the first quarter 2017, compared to 1.312 million pounds per day in the first quarter 2016. Excluding Houston and Edmonton, pounds shipped per day were 1.254 million in the first quarter 2016. Offsetting the positive impact of the increase in sales volumes was a 5.1% decrease in average selling prices and an unfavorable change in product mix.

Gross material margin, calculated as net sales less cost of materials (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) divided by net sales, was 25.7% in the first quarter 2017, compared to 14.3% in the fourth quarter 2016 and 18.4% in the first quarter 2016. The gross material margin in the fourth quarter 2016 was significantly impacted by sales of a substantial amount of aged and excess inventory at an overall negative gross material margin, which was done as part of the Company's continuing effort to improve the management of its inventory. Excluding the impact of these sales, the adjusted gross material margin was 25.1% in the fourth quarter 2016. The gross material margin in the first quarter 2016 was negatively impacted by the $27.1 million sale of the inventory at the Houston and Edmonton locations, as well as a $0.5 million non-cash inventory charge related to restructuring activity. Excluding these charges, the gross material margin was 22.3% in the first quarter 2016.

Loss from continuing operations in the first quarter 2017 was $13.5 million, compared to a loss from continuing operations of

$29.7 million in the fourth quarter 2016 and $44.8 million in the first quarter 2016. Positive EBITDA from continuing operations in the first quarter 2017 was $1.0 million, compared to negative EBITDA from continuing operations of $21.8 million in the fourth quarter 2016 and negative $30.4 million in the first quarter 2016. Adjusted positive EBITDA from continuing operations was $1.7 million in the first quarter 2017, compared to negative $10.8 million in the fourth quarter 2016 and negative $11.6 million in the first quarter 2016.

Executive Vice President and CFO, Pat Anderson, commented, "We are off to a much improved start for 2017 as Castle saw positive Adjusted EBITDA during each month of the quarter, due to the Company's ability to increase gross margin dollars and continue to reduce operating expenses on a per pound basis. We have taken the necessary steps to complete our financial restructuring this summer and look forward to the road ahead."

Net cash used in operating activities of continuing operations was $17.5 million during the first quarter 2017, compared to $3.5 million of net cash from operating activities of continuing operations during the first quarter 2016. Net cash used in investing and financing activities was $1.0 million and $1.0 million, respectively, during the first quarter 2017. Net cash from investing activities of $52.8 million during the first quarter 2016 was mostly attributable to cash proceeds from the sale of the assets of the Company's Total Plastics, Inc. ("TPI") subsidiary. Net cash used in financing activities was $51.6 million during the first quarter 2016, as proceeds from the sales of TPI were used to pay down debt. Total debt outstanding, net of unamortized discount, unamortized debt issuance costs and the derivative liability for the embedded conversion feature of the Company's convertible notes, was $287.2 million at March 31, 2017, and $286.6 million at December 31, 2016. Refer to the "Total Long-Term Debt" table below for details related to the Company's outstanding debt obligations.

Management will hold a conference call at 11:00 a.m. ET today to review the Company's results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017 and discuss the financial restructuring, market conditions and business outlook. The call can be accessed via the internet live or as a replay. Those who would like to listen to the call may access the webcast through a link on the investor relations page of the Company's website at http://www.castlemetals.com/investors or by calling (800) 708-4540 or (847) 619-6397 and citing code 4485 9748#.

An archived version of the conference call webcast will be available for replay at the link above approximately three hours following its conclusion, and will remain available until the next earnings conference call.

Founded in 1890, A. M. Castle & Co. is a global distributor of specialty metal and supply chain services, principally serving the producer durable equipment, commercial aircraft, heavy equipment, industrial goods, construction equipment, and retail sectors of the global 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. It specializes in the distribution of alloy and stainless steels; nickel alloys; aluminum and carbon. Together, Castle and its affiliated companies operate out of 21 metals service centers located throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Its common stock is traded on the OTCQB® Venture Market under the ticker symbol "CASL".

This release and the financial information included in this release include non-GAAP financial measures. The non-GAAP financial information should be considered supplemental to, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. However, we believe that non-GAAP reporting, giving effect to the adjustments shown in the reconciliation contained in this release and in the attached financial statements, provides meaningful information, and therefore we use it to supplement our GAAP reporting and guidance. Management often uses this information to assess and measure the performance of our business. We have chosen to provide this supplemental information to investors, analysts and other interested parties to enable them to perform additional analysis of operating results, to illustrate the results of operations giving effect to the non-GAAP adjustments shown in the reconciliations and to assist with period-over-period comparisons of such operations. The exclusion of the charges indicated herein from the non-GAAP financial measures presented does not indicate an expectation by the Company that similar charges will not be incurred in subsequent periods.

In addition, the Company believes that the use and presentation of EBITDA, which is defined by the Company as income (loss) from continuing operations before provision for income taxes plus depreciation and amortization, and interest expense, less interest income, is widely used by the investment community for evaluation purposes and provides investors, analysts and other interested parties with additional information in analyzing the Company's operating results. Adjusted non-GAAP net income (loss), adjusted non-GAAP income (loss) from continuing operations, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted gross material margin which are defined as reported net income (loss), reported income (loss) from continuing operations, EBITDA and gross margin adjusted for non- cash items and items which are not considered by management to be indicative of the underlying results, are presented as the Company believes the information is important to provide investors, analysts and other interested parties additional information about the Company's financial performance. Operating expenses, excluding restructuring expense (income), is presented as management believes it provides useful information to investors, analysts and other interested parties regarding the ongoing expenses of the Company. Management uses EBITDA, adjusted non-GAAP net income (loss), adjusted non-GAAP net income (loss) from continuing operations, adjusted EBITDA, operating expenses excluding restructuring expense (income) and adjusted gross material margin to evaluate the performance of the business.

Information provided and statements contained in this 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 release and the Company assumes no obligation to update the information included in this release. Such forward-looking statements include information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of our business strategy, and the cost savings and other benefits that we expect to achieve from our restructuring. These statements often include words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "predict," "plan," "should," 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. These factors include or relate to: our ability to obtain sufficient acceptances in connection with our solicitation of debt holder support; our ability to obtain the bankruptcy court's approval with respect to motions or other

requests made in any necessary chapter 11 case, including maintaining strategic control as debtor-in-possession; our ability to confirm and consummate a chapter 11 plan of reorganization in any necessary chapter 11 case; the effects of the filing of any necessary chapter 11 case on our business and the interests of various constituents; the bankruptcy court's rulings in any necessary chapter 11 case, as well the outcome of any such case in general; the length of time that we may operate under any necessary chapter 11 protection and the continued availability of operating capital during the pendency of any necessary chapter 11 case; risks associated with third party motions or objections in any necessary chapter 11 case, which may interfere with our ability to confirm and consummate a chapter 11 plan of reorganization; the potential adverse effects of any necessary chapter 11 case on our liquidity or results of operations; our ability to execute the Company's business and financial reorganization plan; and increased advisory costs to execute our restructuring. Other factors include our ability to effectively manage our operational initiatives and restructuring activities, the impact of volatility of metals prices, the cyclical and seasonal aspects of our business, our ability to effectively manage inventory levels, our ability to successfully complete the remaining steps in our strategic refinancing process, and the impact of our substantial level of indebtedness, as well as including those risk factors identified in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, our Current Report on Form 8-K filed April 7, 2017, and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, which we will file shortly. All future written and oral forward- looking statements by us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to above. Except 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, to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events or for any other reason.