Exide Technologies posts 4Q loss

Battery maker Exide Technologies lost $64.4 million in its fiscal fourth quarter, hurt by falling prices and volumes and one-time charges.

Exide, whose customers include car and truck makers, said late Thursday its loss amounted to 85 cents per share for the three months ended March 31 in contrast to a profit of $63.3 million, or 80 cents per share, a year earlier.

The results reflected a number of one-time items, the largest being a 55 cents a share charge related to accelerated job cuts in Europe that included closing a facility in France.

Excluding one-time items, the company lost 3 cents per share.

Sales dropped 36 percent to $654.3 million from $1.03 billion in the year-earlier period.

Exide said it cut its prices as unit volumes fell 20 percent.

For the 12 months ended in March, the company lost $69.5 million, or 92 cents per share, on sales of $3.3 billion. It earned $32.1 million, or 46 cents per share, on sales of $3.7 billion a year earlier.

Its shares fell 99 cents, or 14.7 percent, to $5.76 in morning trading Friday.