UPDATE 1-Modine Q4 loss widens; slashes dividend by 43 pct
(Adds details, share movement)
May 27 (Reuters) - Modine Manufacturing Co (MOD.N), a maker of heating and cooling systems for vehicles, posted a wider fourth-quarter loss, hurt by restructuring and asset-impairment charges, and slashed its quarterly dividend by 43 percent, sending its shared down as much as 11 percent.
The company cut its quarterly cash dividend to 10 cents a share from 17.5 cents a share, citing the need to provide financial flexibility and support reinvestment.
For the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2008, Modine incurred a net loss of $41.0 million, or $1.28 a share, compared with a loss of $2.8 million, or 9 cents a share, a year earlier.
Loss from continuing operations was $40.3 million, or $1.26 a share.
Latest quarter results included $8 million in restructuring charges, $16 million in asset impairment charges and $24.3 million in valuation allowance charges.
Net sales rose by 15 percent to $478.5 million.
Two analysts had expected a loss of 36 cents a share, before special items, while one analyst had forecast revenue of $428.4 million, according to Reuters Estimates.
The Racine, Wisconsin-based company expects 2009 net profit of $16 million to $20 million, on revenue of $1.9 billion to $2 billion.
One analyst was expecting a net profit of $11.3 million, before special items, on revenue of $1.92 billion.
The company, which plans to close to three plants in North America and one in Europe, expects annualized savings of $20 million to $25 million.
Modine, which continues to see weakness in the North American truck market, expects capital spending of $70 million to $80 million in 2009.
Shares of the company fell to $14.29, before recouping some losses to trade down 45 cents at $15.61 late Tuesday morning on New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Eric Yep in Bangalore; Editing by Amitha Rajan)
