Furon Reports Loss of $22.3 Million : Earnings: It was the firm’s first yearly loss as a public company. Discontinuance of some products and sale of six businesses are blamed.

Furon Co., a maker of rubber and plastic parts for manufacturers, said Wednesday that it lost $22.3 million for its fiscal year ended Feb. 1, contrasted with a profit of $9.1 million the previous year.

Furon had said in January that it would lose up to $25 million for the year as a result of discontinuing some products and the sale of six businesses that, as a group, were unprofitable.

The costs of that restructuring resulted in a $32-million write-down before taxes. The yearly loss amounted to $2.65 a share, contrasted with earnings of $1.11 a share the year before.

It was Furon’s first yearly loss as a public company. The company said the streamlining should return it to profitability.

The Laguna Niguel manufacturer, citing the effects of the recession, said sales fell 6% to $306 million from $327 million the previous year.

“Our financial results were adversely impacted by the economic downturn, which affected virtually all sectors of the industrial marketplace,” Chairman J. Michael Hagan said in a statement.

The company posted a fourth-quarter loss of $25.3 million, or $3 a share, contrasted with earnings of $1.3 million, or 16 cents a share, the previous year.

Sales were $72.9 million for the quarter, down from $75.4 million a year earlier.

Furon makes parts for a broad array of manufacturers, including the aerospace and petrochemical industries. Most of those industries have been pinched by the recession.

Last year Furon began laying off workers at plants nationwide and this year said it would sell some of its businesses.

Furon has already sold one of the six businesses, Santa Ana’s Reynolds & Taylor Inc., to Reinhold Industries Inc.

But one stock analyst who follows the company cautioned that profits aren’t going to show a lot of improvement any time soon.

“What they’re doing, focusing on reducing costs and increasing efficiency, makes sense,” said David Rose of Cruttenden & Co. in Irvine.

“But even though their business has picked up more than we expected, don’t expect to see any big gains in earnings until at least the end of the year.”

Furon’s stock closed Wednesday at $11.75, off 25 cents a share in over-the-counter trading.

Furon Co.

For the fourth quarter ended Feb. 1, Furon Co. reported a loss of $25.3 million on sales of $72.9 million. The company attributed the loss to a onetime, $32-million restructuring charge.

Figures are in thousands, except per-share data.

4th Qtr 4th Qtr 12 Months 12 Months 1992 1991 1992 1991 Revenue $72,944 $75,441 $306,000 $327,000 Net income (loss) (25,316) 1,329 (22,342) 9,093 Per share (loss) (3.00) 0.16 (2.65) 1.11

Source: Furon Co.