Owens Corning Reports Wider 1st-quarter Loss

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Building products maker Owens Corning Inc. posted a wider first-quarter loss Thursday as turmoil in the U.S. housing market and global economy further hurt results.

The Toledo, Ohio-based company, which makes insulation, roofing materials and other building products, reported a loss of $28 million, or 23 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31. That compares with a loss of $13 million, or 10 cents per share, during the same period last year.

Excluding one-time charges for restructuring, asset impairments and other items, Owens Corning earned $5 million, or 4 cents per share, compared with $15 million, or 11 cents per share, during the same quarter in 2008.

Sales fell 21 percent to $1.1 billion from $1.4 billion in the first quarter of last year. Stronger sales for its roofing business failed to offset declines in Owens Corning's sales of insulation, composites and other products.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, had expected a loss of 4 cents per share on revenue of $1.2 billion. Wall Street generally excludes one-time items from its estimates.

The company said the "challenging business environment is expected to persist through 2009."

Owens Corning said it plans to cut costs by a total of $300 million this year by curbing capacity and capital spending and reducing its work force.

Shares of Owens Corning climbed $1.04, or 5.9 percent, to $18.82 in late morning trading Thursday.