ArvinMeritor Inc. (ARM), Tuesday said it slipped to a third-quarter loss from a profit in the same quarter a year ago, as net sales declined 47% due to a decline in global production volumes in most original equipment markets.
The Troy, Michigan-based auto part maker's net loss for the third quarter was $162 million or $2.23 per share, compared to a net income of $44 million or $0.60 per share in the same quarter last year.
Net loss for the third quarter included losses from discontinued operations of $134 million or $1.84 per share that resulted from one time after-tax charges of nearly $90 million related to the divestiture of several of its chassis businesses.
On average, seven analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss of $0.31 per share for the quarter. Analysts estimates typically exclude special items such as one-time charges or gains.
GAAP loss from continuing operations was $28 million or $0.39 per share, compared to income from continuing operations of $48 million or $0.66 per share in the comparable quarter last year.
Excluding special items such as restructuring charges and non-cash charges for a valuation reserve against certain deferred tax assets , loss from continuing operations for the third quarter was $18 million or $0.25 per share, compared to income from continuing operations, before special items, of $54 million or $0.74 per share in the same quarter last year.
Quarterly sales plunged 47% to $993 million from $1.9 billion in the same quarter last year, hurt by a drop in sales due to sharp declines in production volumes in most original equipment markets. Quarterly revenues came in below the Street's view of $1.21 billion.
For the nine-months period, net loss was $1.200 billion or $16.55 per share, compared to net income of $52 million or $0.72 per share in the same period last year.
Revenues for the period dropped to $3.280 billion from $5.101 billion in the same period a year ago.
Looking forward to the fourth quarter, the company now expects loss per share, before special items, to be greater than third fiscal quarter of 2009, while the Street Sees a loss of $0.05 per share.
Fourth quarter revenues are expected to decline slightly, due largely to seasonal patterns, compared to third quarter. Wall Street currently anticipates revenues of $1.25 billion for the quarter.
On Aug. 4, 2009, ArvinMeritor entered into a purchase and sale agreement to divest its Wheels business - previously a division of the company's LVS segment - to Iochpe-Maxion, S. A., a Brazilian producer of wheels and frames for commercial vehicles, railway freight cars and castings. The base purchase price is $180 million, while actual closing proceeds may vary depending on taxes and the net cash or debt position of the business at closing.
ARM closed Tuesday's trading at $6.25, down $0.64 or 9.29%, on a volume of 6.943 million shares on the NYSE.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com