Building products group James Hardie Industries NV’s annual profit mounts $152 million. Year before company reported to bear a $507 million loss amid to compensate to asbestos products victims.
Company’s sales for the fiscal year increased 4 percent to $1.54 billion from $1.5 billion. Australian based building products group’s annual operating profit mounts 6 percent to $222 million from $209 million.
Although, company did well in its yearly business yet experts warned company to vigil for the future. Experts noted that this coming fiscal year could be a toughest year in term of profit, as housing market in Australia and US is dramatically slowing down.
Hardie Industries NV derives most of its revenue from battling US housing market. The condition of US new house market is critical; despite reducing prices, house sellers bear the losses. The National Association of Realtors earlier this month slashed estimates for new and existing home sales for this year and 2008. Building permits dropped to the lowest in almost a decade in April, squashing hopes for a rebound.
Negative market’s effects has also grip Hardie Industries as its fourth-quarter earnings slashed 16 percent whereas its sales dropped 7 percent. Net sales from James Hardie’s key U.S. fiber cement products were down 11 percent during the fourth quarter, but its earnings before interest and tax grew by 2 percent.
Company is also not sure for market uncertainty in spite of the supply of new homes for sale rises more than demand, but that builder confidence remained low as they asserted
We have seen some improvement in demand in our U.S. business so far this first quarter, but the outlook for the U.S. housing market continues to carry significant uncertainty
Shares of James Hardie rose 31 cents, or 3.5 percent. They have declined 3.7 percent this year on concern about the profit outlook, and after Australia’s securities regulator sued the company for misleading investors about the cost of compensating people sickened by asbestos in its products.
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Via: chron
