Costs associated with closing its Pittsburg, Kan., plant and laying off those 600 employees helped push Superior Industries International deeper into the hole.
The California-based company last week reported a net loss $20.1 million for its fourth quarter, or 75 cents per share, compared to net income of $4.7 million, or 18 cents per share, for the same period one year earlier. Revenue for the company in the fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31, came to $151.9 million, compared to $229.2 million a year earlier.
For the full year, Superior reported a net loss of $26.1 million, or 98 cents per share, compared to net income of $9.3 million, or 35 cents per share the previous year. Revenue came to $754.9 million, down from $956.9 million the previous year.
The company said the cost of closing its Pittsburg plant and another plant in California, along with other costs, meant a net loss of $23.3 million last year. The Pittsburg plant closed in December.
In addition, to announcing the closing of its Pittsburg plant in August, Superior canceled 90 open positions and laid off an additional 65 employees elsewhere throughout the company.
Those two actions — 755 positions — were 29 percent of Superior’s U.S. work force at the time.
The company cited the shift toward more fuel-efficient vehicles in closing the plant, which made aluminum wheels for trucks for companies such as General Motors.
Closing the company’s plant in Van Nuys, Calif., meant the elimination of another 290 jobs, representing 9 percent of Superior’s total work force.
“The workforce reductions and plant closings were severe measures, but steps that we believe were necessary in order to right-size our capacity and position the company to operate more efficiently,” Steven Borick, chairman, chief executive officer and president, said in a statement last week.
“Our financial performance for the 2008 fourth quarter and full year was impacted by the dramatic drop in U.S. auto sales. We were ahead of the curve in reductions to our infrastructure and made some very difficult decisions to protect the future of our company. While we could not have predicted the extent and duration of the global economic downturn and its impact on the automotive industry, we have taken appropriate actions to stem losses and strengthen the company for the near and long term.
