HAMILTON - Stelco Holdings Inc. says it saw a significant earnings boost in the fourth quarter as both shipments and steel prices rose while it reduced tariff costs.

The company says it had a net income of $110 million, or $1.23 per share for the quarter ending Dec. 31, up from $15 million or 21 cents per share for the same quarter a year earlier.

Adjusted net income came in at $100 million or $1.13 per share, which was up from $52 million a year earlier but below analyst expectations of $142 million or $1.36 according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.

The company says it has been using a flexible model that allowed it to reduce costs from the U.S. metal tariffs by 41 per cent from the third quarter to $23 million.

Stelco says it continues with efforts to reduce tariff exposure into 2019, and supports the Canadian government's efforts to eliminate the tariffs as well as measures to safeguard increases of foreign imports into the Canadian market.

It says it has issued a special dividend of $100 million or $1.13 on top of its regular quarterly dividend on the strength of its results.