PROVIDENCE – Textron Inc. said Thursday it lost money in 2009 as a weak economy continued to hold down revenue, and warned that its earnings for this year are likely to fall below analysts’ expectations.
For the full year, Textron swung to a net loss of $31 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with a profit of $486 million, or $1.29 a share, in 2008. Annual sales fell 25 percent to $10.5 billion.
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In 2010, Textron said it expects to earn an adjusted profit of 30 cents to 50 cents a share on sales of about $10.8 billion. That was significantly below analysts’ average earnings estimate of 82 cents on sales of $10.52 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.
Textron stock fell 4 percent to $20.17 at 10:12 a.m. Thursday in New York Stock Exchange trading. The shares, which rose 36 percent in 2009, had gained 11.6 percent this year as of the close of trading Wednesday.
Textron Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Scott C. Donnelly said the company will continue to focus on holding the line on costs and reducing the liabilities of its financial division, Textron Financial Corp., in 2010.
“Solid cash generation was the highlight of the year, as we had excellent success in liquidating non-captive finance receivables at Textron Financial and significant cost productivity and working capital improvements in our manufacturing businesses,” Donnelly said.
Textron is projecting increased sales this year at its Bell, Textron Systems and industrial divisions but a decline in revenue at Cessna and Textron Financial. The company has cut more than one-fifth of its staff and borrowed heavily to deal with the recession.
In the three months ended Jan. 2, Textron posted a net loss of $63 million, or 23 cents a share, compared with a loss of $209 million, or 86 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding charges, the company said it earned 15 cents a share from continuing operations. That topped the average earnings estimate of 9 cents a share among nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Fourth-quarter revenue fell 21 percent to $2.81 billion, higher than analysts’ estimate of $2.76 billion.
Additional information is available at textron.com.
