Timken posts second straight quarterly loss

Timken Co. said Thursday it lost money for a second consecutive quarter, hurt by plummeting sales of its specialty steel products and lower production and surcharges.

Shares of Timken advanced 4.5 percent in morning trading, however, as it reported much higher-than-expected adjusted earnings. But its sales are expected to continuing falling for the remainder of this year.

The company, which makes bearings for aerospace, automotive, construction and the energy industries, reported a loss of $50.1 million, or 52 cents per share, compared with a profit of $130.4 million, or $1.35 per share, last year.

Excluding items, Timken earned 8 cents per share from continuing operations. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 25 cents per share. It share price rose 94 cents, to $21.84.

Timken said revenue fell 43 percent to $763.6 million from $1.34 billion.

Earlier this year, Timken agreed to sell its needle roller bearings business to JTEKT Corp. of Japan for $330 million. Its most-recent results included a loss of $30.8 million, or 32 cents per share, to account for that transaction.

"This quarter's performance is more about how we're managing the business than a shift in marketplace trends," Timken President and CEO James W. Griffith said in a statement. "Without the benefit of improved volume, we're yielding better results from structural changes we've made."

For the full year, Timken revised its forecast and it now expects a loss of 10 cents to 30 cents per share, including discontinued operations and excluding special items. It had previously expected a loss of 40 cents to 90 cents per share.

But Timken expects its 2009 sales will decline 35 percent to 40 percent, mainly due to weaker demand. But the company sees sales in its aerospace and defense segment rising modestly, helped by defense industry orders.