Headwaters 4Q loss swells amid impairment charge

SOUTH JORDAN, Utah - Building materials supplier Headwaters Inc. said Tuesday its fiscal fourth-quarter loss swelled due in part to the expiration of a tax credit, an impairment charge and a drop in sales.

For the period ended Sept. 30, the company reported a net loss of $184.1 million, or $4.46 per share, compared with a net loss of $70.5 million, or $1.67 per share, in the year-ago period.

Headwaters provides products and services to the construction, coal-combustion and alternative energy markets. Its Section 45K tax credit, which was intended as an economic incentive to develop alternative fuels, expired on Dec. 31, 2007.

Excluding a goodwill impairment charge of $194.4 million and about $3 million in Section 45K costs, the company posted earnings of $7.3 million, or 24 cents per share.

Revenue fell 27 percent to $235.1 million from $322.5 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 26 cents per share on revenue of $231.8 million. Analyst estimates typically exclude one-time charges.

For the fiscal year, Headwaters posted a net loss of $169.7 million, or $4.10 per share, on revenue of $886.4 million.

Excluding special items, the company posted full-year earnings of $10.9 million, or 60 cents per share.

Headwaters guided for fiscal 2009 results below Wall Street's expectations.

Shares fell $1.38, or 13.4 percent, to $8.89 in afternoon trading. The stock has traded between $6.90 and $16.40 in the past 52 weeks.

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