(RTTNews) - Wednesday, building products manufacturer USG Corp. (USG: News ) said its third-quarter loss widened as revenue slumped, plagued by lower sales in all business segments due to lower demand. The company also recorded significant amount of charges during the quarter.

The Chicago, Illinois-based company's third-quarter net loss widened to $94 million or $0.96 per share from $36 million or $0.36 per share a year ago.

Results included charges for restructuring and long-lived asset impairment totaling $22 million or $0.15 per share, and charges for goodwill and intangible asset impairment totaling $41 million or $0.28 per share. Year-ago results included included restructuring and long-lived asset impairment charges of $5 million or $0.03 per share.

On average, 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated a loss of $0.40 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the quarter declined to $822 million from $1.2 billion in the comparable quarter last year. Analysts expected net sales of $872.94 million for the quarter.

Segment wise, USG's North American Gypsum business reported net sales of $443 million, compared to net sales of $610 million reported for last year's third quarter. L&W Supply Corporation and its subsidiaries, which comprise USG's building products distribution business, reported net sales of $329 million, down 37% from $526 million last year. Worldwide ceilings business reported net sales of $173 million, down from $227 million reported in the comparable quarter last year.
William Foote, chief executive officer of USG, said, "Our businesses continued to experience weak demand that resulted in lower sales in the third quarter."

Operating loss for the quarter widened to $92 million from $32 million a year ago.

For the nine-month period, net loss widened to $189 million or $1.91 per share from $114 million or $1.15 per share in the comparable period last year. Net sales for the period decreased to $2.5 billion from $3.6 billion last year.

USG is currently down $1.24 or 7.37% and is trading at $15.59 on a volume of 1.94 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

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by RTT Staff Writer

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