Bridgestone Expects $1.66-Billion U.S. Loss

Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. will take a $1.61-billion special charge in 2001 and will need a $1.3-billion injection from Japanese parent Bridgestone Corp. to overcome huge debts following its massive tire recalls, Bridgestone said.

But Bridgestone said a restructuring that the U.S. unit announced Monday would bring tax benefits that could cushion some of the pain, adding that it expected its group net earnings for calendar 2001 to be 80% higher than forecast.

The U.S. unit is expected to take an additional charge of $285 million for lawsuits in the second half, which will result in a net loss of $1.66 billion for the year.

Bridgestone forecast its group net profit would be $145 million for 2001, up from an August forecast of $81 million.

But it revised downward group current profit, which is before tax and extraordinary items, by 28% to $612 million--a 39% drop from 2000.

Firestone estimated it will have 2001 sales of $7.4 billion, down from $7.5 billion a year earlier.