ArvinMeritor 4Q Loss Narrows Amid Cost Cuts; Names Operating Chief

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 

ArvinMeritor Inc. (ARM) posted a narrower-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter loss as cost cuts helped offset weak auto-production volume.

The company, whose revenue results also topped estimates, named Carsten Reinhardt to fill the vacant chief operating officer's post. Reinhardt, president of ArvinMeritor's commercial vehicle systems business since joining the company in 2006, is a former chief executive of Daimler AG's (DAI) Detroit Diesel Corp.

Shares rose 1.3% premarket to $8.80. The stock has more than tripled this year.

ArvinMeritor's results and expectations for further sequential growth in the current quarter illustrate the company's efforts to simplify operations and manage working capital amid weak demand are gaining traction. Streamlining moves have included selling its stake in its suspension-systems joint venture two weeks ago and its wheel-manufacturing unit in September.

Tuesday, the company said it will continue to focus on "rigorous cost management" in its new fiscal year following $195 million of savings in its core operations the past year.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the maker of commercial- and light-vehicle parts narrowed its loss to $12 million, or 17 cents a share, from $153 million, or $2.12 a share a year earlier.

Excluding restructuring and other charges, ArvinMeritor had a loss from continuing operations of 28 cents, compared with a prior-year profit of 35 cents. The company attributed the worse performance to the inability to recognize the tax benefit of losses in certain countries. Revenue plunged 36% to $984 million, reflecting weak production volume, but rose 4% from the prior quarter.

ArvinMeritor's August prediction was for a wider loss from continuing operations than the fiscal third quarter's 39 cents and "slightly lower" sequential revenue.

Gross margin fell to 8.4% from 9.3% amid the sales woes.

Sales at its commercial-vehicle systems business--its largest by far--plunged 53% as the unit swung to a loss.

-By Mike Barris, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2330; [e-mail]