February 28, 2005

Finning Q4 profit falls

VANCOUVER

Finning International Inc. has reported a fourth-quarter profit of $20.1 million, down from $28.1 million a year earlier, due to a one-time charge related to an acquisition.

However, the company increased its quarterly dividend a penny to 11 cents to share.

The Vancouver-based heavy-equipment dealer reports it earned 23 cents per share for the three months ended Dec. 31. That compared with a profit of 36 cents per share a year ago.

Holding back the results was a $14.5-million after-tax charge related to redemption of a non-controlling interest that was used to finance a portion of the Hewden Stuart acquisition. Quarterly revenue was $1.08 billion, up from $933 million.

CEO Doug Whitehead said that, in addition to the $14.5-million charge, the company was hurt by the strengthening Canadian dollar relative to the United States dollar, higher pension costs and higher long-term incentive plan costs.

“Nevertheless, the outlook for our business is very strong in most markets,” Whitehead said in a release.

The Canadian Press

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