Owens Corning cuts full-year earnings forecast

TOLEDO, Ohio -- Owens Corning trimmed its earnings forecast for the year due to weakness in its roofing and composites businesses.

Shares of the construction and industrial-materials company dropped more than 7 percent in premarket trading Tuesday.

Owens Corning now anticipates adjusted earnings before interest and taxes between $280 million and $310 million. It previously predicted $360 million to $420 million.

The Toledo, Ohio, company previously announced that there was weakness in the U.S. roofing shingle market late in the second quarter. That trend continued into the third quarter. The company says shipments fell after a price hike in the middle of September and are not expected to get better for the rest of the year.

The company says composites demand in the second half of 2012 will be hurt by softness in the U.S. roofing market and lower industrial production, particularly in Europe. Owens Corning cut its 2012 global glass fiber market demand growth estimate to about 3 percent. The long-term average growth rate historically is 5 percent.

Owens Corning still expects its insulation business to significantly narrow its losses in 2012 thanks in part to a nascent recovery in the U.S. housing market.

For the third quarter, the company anticipates earnings before interest and taxes of $81 million.

Owens Corning will report its third-quarter financial results on Oct. 24. Its shares fell $2.44, or 7.2 percent, to $31.51 before the market open.