Tuesday, May. 13, 2008

Kemet posts loss on higher costs, special charge

Kemet Corp., the Simpsonville maker of capacitors for electronics, said today it swung to a fiscal fourth-quarter loss, as special charges and higher costs countered a boost in revenue.

The company posted a loss of $20.7 million, or 25 cents per share, compared with a year-ago profit of $128,000, or break-even per share.

Kemet said it took $18.7 million in special charges in the quarter, mostly related to plant relocations to Mexico and China and job cuts across all regions in an effort to trim costs.

Adjusted to exclude special charges, the company said it swung to a loss of $2 million, or 2 cents per share, compared with net income of $8.3 million, or 10 cents per share, in the fiscal 2007 fourth quarter.

Revenue leaped 54 percent to $241.2 million, from $157.1 million a year earlier. The company said increased sales were the result of higher shipments, particularly to the U.S. and Europe.

Analysts were expecting a profit of 6 cents per share on revenue of $238.2 million, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.

Shares dropped 14 cents to $4.01 in early trading today.

The company said costs from a recent acquisition, higher raw material costs and fuel prices all hurt margins for the quarter.

For the full fiscal year, the company posted a loss of $17.8 million, or 21 cents per share, compared with a profit of $6.9 million, or 8 cents per share, in fiscal 2007.

Revenue rose 29 percent to $850.1 million.