US: Owens Corning (OC) has swung to a fourth-quarter profit due to prior-year acquisition-related costs as the company continued to see stronger sales in its building materials. OC saw sales improve for its roofing and insulation materials in 2011 despite the ongoing slump in the US housing market. A focus on costs has helped support its bottom line.
OC reported a profit of US$50m for the fourth quarter of 2011 from a year-earlier loss of US$110m. The year-earlier period included a net US$135m in asset-sales losses and acquisition and restructuring-related charges. Its revenue increased by 2.4% to US$1.2bn and its gross margin rose to 19.2% from 17.1%. The building materials segment, OC's biggest area, reported net sales growth of 8%, including an increase of 8.7% in insulation sales.
Chairman and Chief Executive Mike Thaman said that OC anticipates improved US housing starts and modest growth in the global economy in 2012. The company expects that a strong performance in its building materials business will more than offset impacts of near-term market challenges in its composites business.
