NEWTON, IOWA -Maytag’s Home Appliance segment, which includes major appliances and floor-care products, reported fourth-quarter sales of $879.2 million, down 6.4 percent from the $939.5 million recorded in the same three months last year.
Operating income for the Home Appliances segment in the fourth quarter, ended Dec. 31, was $68.6 million, including the impact of $19.7 million in special charges. Before special charges, operating income was $88.3 million. This compares with $134 million in operating income for the segment in 1999.
For the year, Maytag’s Home Appliance segment recorded sales of $3.7 billion, relatively flat compared with year-end sales in 1999.
Operating income for the segment, after special charges, was $478.1 million, down 15 percent from the $562.3 million percent reported a year earlier. Before special charges, the year-end operating income was $497.8 million.
Maytag’s overall fourth quarter, negatively impacted by an industrywide slowdown in majaps sales, was reported in line with expectations announced in December. Consolidated fourth-quarter sales were $991.3 million, down 6.7 percent compared with $1.1 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Fourth-quarter operating income, which included $49.2 million in special charges, was $21 million, off 83.2 percent from the $125.1 million recorded in the same quarter in 1999. Before the special charges, fourth-quarter operating income was $70.2 million.
After special charges, net loss for the quarter was $10.2 million, compared with a gain of $71.5 million in the year-ago three months. Before the impact of special charges, the company’s fourth-quarter net income was $32.3 million.
“These results confirm what we indicated last month,” said Maytag president/CEO Leonard A. Hadley. “There was a significant decrease in industrywide major appliance shipments during the fourth quarter, and this weakness will probably continue in the first half of this year. During November and December, we began refocusing our efforts on our core businesses by eliminating some non-essential initiatives, and this resulted in some of the special charges taken in the fourth quarter.”
Maytag’s consolidated sales for the full year were $4.25 billion, down 1.8 percent from record sales of $4.32 billion in 1999.
Operating income for the year, after special charges, was $418.3 million, down 27.3 percent from the $575.5 million recorded in 1999. Before special charges, the company’s 2000 operating income was $467.5 million.
Net income for 2000, after the impact of special charges, was $201 million, off 38.8 percent from the $328.5 million reported the previous year. Before special charges, the company’s full-year net income was $243.4 million.
