Whirlpool Q4 earnings tumble 76%

Whirlpool Corp today reported a 76 per cent drop in net income at $44 million for the December quarter, primarily due to higher restructuring charges and falling sales.

The consumer electronics entity had a net income of $187 million for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2008, Whirlpool said in a statement.

"Fourth-quarter earnings reflect sharply lower global unit sales and production volumes, higher material and oil-related costs and unfavourable foreign currency exchange movements compared to the fourth quarter of 2007," the company said in a statement.

The December quarter results included restructuring charges of $77 million and another $32 million in expenses related to product recalls.

"The company also recorded $77 million of restructuring costs compared to $15 million in the earlier year. Results were also unfavourably impacted by a $32-million product recall expense related to a supplier quality issue," it added.

Whirlpool recorded fourth-quarter sales of $4.3 billion, compared with $5.3 billion in the year-ago period.