Owens Corning reports $159 million third-quarter income from operations; NYSE approves stock listing

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Oct. 25 - Owens Corning reported $159 million in third-quarter income from operations on a record $1.661 billion of consolidated net sales, according to a company news release.

The net sales improved 2.7% from $1.618 billion in the third quarter of 2005, and income from operations increased 14.4% from $139 million.

The net income for the third quarter of 2006 was $62 million, up from a $267 million net loss for the same period of 2005.

"Third-quarter results were in-line with our expectations," president and chief executive officer Dave Brown said in the release.

"Although we experienced significant increases in energy, transportation and raw material costs, we are pleased that we delivered record financial results through the first nine months of 2006.

"The strong demand for our products and services that we experienced in the first half of the year softened in the third quarter due to the slowing U.S. housing market.

"We anticipate that the continued decline in housing starts will translate into weaker demand for our building materials products in the fourth quarter of 2006. However, as we have in the past, we're aggressively managing our business to anticipate and meet the changing demands of the marketplace," Brown added.

For the first nine months of 2006, income from operations was $442 million, compared with a loss from operations of $3.973 billion for the same period of 2005.

Owens Corning said the loss from operations for the first nine months of 2005 was primarily a result of an additional $4.342 billion provision for asbestos liability, which the company recognized in the first quarter of 2005.

Net sales for the first nine months were a record $4.984 billion, compared with $4.610 billion in the first nine months of 2005.

The net income for the first nine months of this year was $376 million, compared with a $4.437 billion net loss for the same period of 2005.

The company said the first nine-month sales increase was primarily the result of favorable pricing actions offsetting inflation in the insulating systems and roofing and asphalt segments, combined with revenue from a recent composite solutions acquisition in Japan.

Cash and cash equivalents at Sept. 30 were $1.465 billion, compared with $1.559 billion on Dec. 31, 2005.

Owens Corning said in the release that it remains confident that income from operations, excluding items impacting comparability, will exceed the comparable adjusted income from operations of $544 million in 2005.

New stock listing details

In addition, Owens Corning announced Wednesday that shares of its common stock that will be issued at the time of emergence from Chapter 11 have been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "OC."

In anticipation of emergence, currently scheduled for Oct. 31, the common shares began trading on a "when-issued" basis on Monday.

"Regular-way" trading is expected to begin on Nov. 1.

Owens Corning, a Toledo, Ohio, building materials company, filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 5, 2000 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Its Chapter 11 case number is 00-3837.

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