Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. today reported a fourth-quarter loss and said it would slash 3,500 more jobs worldwide by the end of the year to eliminate high-cost tire capacity. Of the jobs that will be eliminated, some 2,200 are Goodyear workers and the balance is employees of the company's joint ventures, a company spokesman said.
The Akron, OH-based tiremaker incurred a fourth quarter net loss, after items, of $174.0 million, or $1.07 a share, compared with a net loss of $102.0 million, or 65 cents, a year ago.
Costs related to the job cuts totaled about $125 million or 77 cents a share in the quarter, the company said, adding it should result in annual savings of more than $102 million.
For 2001, Goodyear reported a net loss of $203.6 million or $1.27 per share, the company's first annual loss since 1992 when it took a $1 billion charge to cover an accounting change for medical benefits for retirees. The company last reported an operating loss in 1990.