Finning International

Finning International, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, reported record quarterly revenues of almost $1.6 billion for the fourth quarter of 2008, an increase of 7.3 per cent over the fourth quarter of 2007.

As a result of certain non-recurring costs and charges in the fourth quarter of 2008, the company experienced a loss from continuing operations before interest and income taxes (EBIT) of $84.5 million, and fourth quarter net loss from continuing operations was $106.8 million. The non-recurring costs included a non-cash goodwill impairment charge as a result of a deterioration in market conditions, and restructuring costs in connection with the business support integration in the U.K. as well as the restructuring of Hewden’s nationwide depot network.

In response to the current market conditions, Finning initiated certain actions in the fourth quarter of 2008 to reduce costs that resulted in restructuring charges globally. Excluding these non-recurring costs, diluted earnings per share from continuing operations for the fourth quarter of 2008 would have been $0.33 per share, 15.4 percent lower than the fourth quarter of 2007.

“Fourth quarter earnings were solid at 33 cents and consistent with expectations, excluding non-recurring items,” said Mike Waites, Finning’s president and CEO. “While challenging business conditions will impact 2009 revenues, we have acted quickly and decisively to reduce our costs and adjust our staffing levels where needed. We achieved $1.9 billion of customer support revenues in 2008, well on our way to achieving our target of $2.3 billion of customer support revenues in 2010. Our balance sheet is healthy and our net debt to net debt plus equity ratio is expected to be towards the lower end of our target range of 40-50 per cent by the end of 2009,” Waites said.