UPDATE 1-AmeriCredit swings to Q4 loss on charges
(Recasts; adds details)
Aug 6 (Reuters) - U.S. auto-finance company AmeriCredit Corp (ACF.N) posted a fourth-quarter loss, hurt by impairment and restructuring charges.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based company reported a net loss of $150 million, or $1.30 a share, compared with a profit $87 million, or 66 cents, a year earlier. Revenue fell 4 percent to $598.4 million.
The loss included an impairment charge of $1.17 a share, related to the write-off of goodwill related to the acquisitions of Long Beach Acceptance Corp and Bay View Acceptance Corp.
The results also included a charge of 6 cents a share related to changes in the company's lending programs and organizational structure.
Analysts expected the company to earn 23 cents a share, excluding special items, on revenue of $599.8 million, according to Reuters Estimates.
Provision for bad loans rose 47 percent to $279.1 million in the quarter.
"Excluding the goodwill impairment and restructuring charge, we earned $13 million pre-tax for the quarter even after significantly increasing loan loss provisions to build our allowance for loan losses," Chief Financial Officer Chris Choate said.
Shares of AmeriCredit, which competes with Credit Acceptance Corp (CACC.O), Capital One Financial Corp (COF.N) and Consumer Portfolio Services Inc (CPSS.O), have lost 60 percent of their value from its 52-week high.
The shares closed at $8.60 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Ratul Ray Chaudhuri in Bangalore; Editing by Pratish Narayanan)
