Masco Corp. (NYSE: MAS), which manufactures and installs building materials, announced its fourth quarter numbers Wednesday afternoon, falling short of analyst estimates.Analysts had expected to see the company show a loss for its fourth quarter of 5 cents, but a tough sales environment pushed the company's loss much wider than expected, with a reported 18-cent loss per share.
During the quarter, Masco saw its revenue plummet, as tough domestic and international markets led to a 25% drop in sales. Analysts had been expecting to see the company show $2.1 billion in revenues, but actual revenues came in much lower at $1.98 billion, compared with $2.64 billion during the same period last year.
The poor earnings and revenues figures were not the only pieces of bad news that traders will have to digest. On top of the dismal earnings figures, the company also announced that it was going to be slashing its dividend payments this year. Last year the company paid 94 cents in dividends, but due to the current market environment, its dividend payment will drop to 30 cents this year. The decision was based on what the company stated as an "extremely challenging" market on the horizon as the global recession continues to spread.
The housing market has been one of the hardest hit areas of the economy, and the company does not think that this trend is about to reverse itself. Looking ahead at the rest of this year, Masco believes that new housing start ups are going to drop by about 35%, while spending on home improvement also continues to decline.
Masco is forecasting that 2009 sales are going to wind up 15 to 20% lower than its 2008 sales figures, and that its earnings for the year will fall between break even and a 30-cent loss.
The stock got punished in after-hours trading, dropping over 8.5%.
Will Rich Ross really have a positive impact on Disney's movie operations?
Consumers sick of recession, may spend extra on holidays
Corrections, seasonality and Santa Claus
