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Bethlehem posts 4Q loss
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January 27, 1999: 3:02 p.m. ET
Company blames cut-price imports, warns of continuing problem in '99
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Bethlehem Steel Corp. blamed imports for a fourth-quarter loss reported Wednesday.
Bethlehem Steel (BS) also warned that it expects international competition to hurt this year's earnings.
The Bethlehem, Pa.-based company posted a net loss of $23 million, or 26 cents per common share, compared with net income of $42 million, or 28 cents a share, a year ago.
Analysts polled by First Call had estimated a loss of 18 cents per share.
"During the first half of the year, our financial performance was strong," said Curtis H. Barnette, Bethlehem chairman and chief financial officer. "However, during the second half of the year, business conditions worsened considerably, primarily because of unprecedented levels of unfairly traded steel imports entering the domestic marketplace."
Sales for the fourth quarter fell to $1.01 billion from $1.12 billion a year ago.
For the year, net income was $120 million, or 64 cents per common share, basic, including an after-tax charge of $29 million related to the closing of the company's Sparrows Point plate mill. Net income for 1997 was $281 million, or $2.13 per common share, including an after-tax gain of $113 million related to the company's sale of its equity interest in Iron Ore Co. of Canada.
Excluding the charge and the gain, the company said net income for 1998 would have been $149 million, or 88 cents a share, on sales of $4.48 billion, compared with $168 million, or 12 cents a share, on sales of $4.63 billion in 1997.
"The unprecedented level of unfairly traded imports being dumped into the United States continues to cause serious injury to Bethlehem and the American steel industry," the company said. "At Bethlehem, production, shipments and workforce schedules have all been reduced at all of our operations."
While praising a Clinton administration plan to combat increased steel imports, the company said the plan falls short. Bethlehem said it has taken and will continue to take legal action, mount a public campaign with other steel companies and the United Steelworkers in a "Stand Up for America" campaign; and continued meetings with Congress and the White House.
"Competition will be intense in 1999," the company said. "We continue to be very concerned about the high levels of unfairly traded steel imports, while we will expected adversely effect our 1999 results."
Bethlehem Steel was down 9/16 at 8-3/4 in afternoon trading. 
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Bethlehem Steel
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