PolyOne reports $283 million loss in Q4 2008

Polymer distributor PolyOne lost almost $283 million during the fourth quarter of 2008.

According to the Avon Lake, Ohio-based company, sales fell 14 per cent to just under $542 million.

The firm had made a profit of $7 million in the fourth quarter of 2007, but PolyOne officials noted that most of the fourth-quarter loss was attributable to a special-item charge of almost $300 million, including a goodwill impairment charge of $170 million in its PVC compounds and specialty coatings business.

Taking out those items would create results similar to what PolyOne posted in 2007, both for the fourth quarter and the full year, officials said.

The news follows on the heels of a January 15 announcement by PolyOne to close its PVC compounding plant in Niagara, Ont. The job cuts represent about 8 per cent of PolyOne’s global work force.