By Matt Andrejczak
SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Sealed Air Corp., maker of Bubble wrap and other plastic packaging for the food industry, said Monday its fourth-quarter net income dropped 41% from a year ago and forecast a weak outlook for this year.
Sealed Air, hurt by higher resin and freight costs, has been reducing spending, closing facilities and cutting jobs over the past year. Despite its business slowdown, the company topped Wall Street's profit expectations in the quarter, helping send its stock up 8%.
The Elmwood Park, N.J.-based plastics maker reported net income of $47.3 million, or 26 cents a share, down from net income of $79.7 million, or 43 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Sales fell 7% to $1.2 billion.
Excluding charges to shut down a factory in Iowa and a mark down on the value of its auction-rate securities, Sealed Air (SEE) said it would have earned 39 cents a share, better than the 35 cents analysts expected, according to FactSet Research.
Its profit was helped by a much lower tax rate in the quarter of 11.3%.
Looking forward, Sealed Air said business will be slow this year and that it plans to keep a lid on its expenses. The company said unit volumes will slip in the "single-digit" percent range.
The manufacturer pegged 2009 earnings in the range of $1.25 to $1.45, which excludes restructuring charges. Analysts, on average, had figured Sealed Air would make a $1.46 a share.
In late morning trading, Sealed Air shares rose to $14.68.
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