Federal-Mogul posts loss after $304 million in one-time charges

ERJ staff report (AN)

Detroit, Michigan -- Automotive supplier Federal-Mogul Corp. has reported a fourth-quarter net loss after a $304 million one-time impairment charge caused by a drop in the value of some of its product lines.

The suburban Detroit supplier's fourth-quarter net loss was $239 million, or $2.42 a share, compared with a profit of $45 million, or 45 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue rose 5 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010 to $1.7 billion.

Removing one-time items, Federal-Mogul reported a profit of $51 million, or 51 cents per share, for the quarter, up from $38 million, or 38 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Analysts had expected adjusted earnings per share of 44 cents and sales of $1.75 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

Federal-Mogul said the one-time charge, which came from writing down the “goodwill” value of certain assets, would probably have been offset by increased values of other business units, such as powertrain. But accounting rules “do not permit the recognition of gains in the value of one reporting unit to offset impairment charges in another reporting unit,” the company said in a statement.

For 2011, Federal-Mogul reported a net loss of $90 million compared with net income of $161 million in 2010. When adjusting out one-time gains and charges, Federal-Mogul said it posted net income of $203 million in 2011 compared with $134 million in 2010.

Revenues for the year increased 11 percent $6.9 billion.

The company said the results reflected an increase in sales to original equipment customers and offset costs from higher volumes and raw materials.

Federal-Mogul's original equipment sales were a company record of $4.6 billion for 2011, an increase of 18 percent from a year ago.

The company makes pistons, rings, liners, bearings, gaskets, seals, heat shields and friction materials.

From Automotive News (A Crain publication)

Press release from Federal Mogul