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Motorola posts 4Q loss
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January 22, 2002: 6:02 p.m. ET
Company's bottom line is better than expected; sales drop 25 percent.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Motorola on Tuesday logged a fourth-quarter operating loss of 4 cents per share, a penny narrower than analysts generally had expected.
The $90 million, or 4 cents per share, operating loss excludes restructuring and other one-time charges and compares with a profit of 15 cents per share during the same quarter a year earlier. Analysts generally had expected a loss of 5 cents per share, according to a survey conducted by earnings tracker First Call.
Including one-time charges totaling $1.7 billion, Motorola's net loss for the quarter was $1.2 billion, or 55 cents per share.
At $7.3 billion, Motorola's (MOT: Research, Estimates) fourth-quarter revenue fell 25 percent from $9.8 billion a year earlier.
Executives of Motorola, the No. 2 supplier of mobile phones and a leading semiconductor supplier, highlighted the performance of the company's personal communications segment -- which includes mobile phones and pagers -- as well as its broadband communications segment.
"While the end markets Motorola serves continue to be weak, the company is making good progress in improving its strategic focus and in reducing its cost structure," Edward Breen, the company's president and chief operating officer, said in a statement.
Faced with a sharp and sudden slowdown in demand for its product, Motorola has been struggling financially for more than a year and has put in place a restructuring plan that included laying off more than 35,000 employees.
During the fourth quarter, Breen said Motorola made progress in strengthening our balance sheet by generating $1.9 billion in positive operating cash flow and reducing net debt by more than one-half, from $7.2 billion to $3.1 billion during 2001.
"We are confident we are taking the right steps to position the company to return to the level of profitability that it is capable of generating as its end markets recover," he said.
Even so, the company is likely to continue to operate in the red during the first half of 2002, with a return to profitability in the second half, barring any unforeseen political or economic disruptions, Breen said.
He said Motorola has continued to position its cost structure, research and development investments and manufacturing capacity for both an expected modest economic recovery in the second half of 2002 and the expected revitalization of its end markets.
Executives of Motorola have scheduled a teleconference to discuss the results and their business outlook before the U.S. markets open Wednesday. 
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