MADCAT

Here's another hint of FORD trouble's. You peeps who follow the auto sector closely should know what Visteon is:

From: reuters.com

By David Bailey

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Auto parts maker Visteon Corp. (VC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Monday posted a preliminary quarterly net loss, pressured by automaker production cuts and a high cost structure, and said it remains in talks with former parent Ford Motor Co. (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) about a broad restructuring.

Visteon, which has struggled to stand on its own since its spin-off five years ago from Ford, said the quarterly results were preliminary because it found accounting errors related to its retiree health-care and pension benefits and income taxes while closing the books on 2004.

Visteon said it is reviewing prior reports to determine if further adjustments are necessary.

The company, which has paid a dividend since its spin-off from Ford, also said it might cut or suspend its quarterly dividend.

The fourth-quarter loss narrowed to $115 million, or 92 cents per share, compared with a restated loss of $829 million, or $6.60 a share, in the year-ago quarter when Visteon took $720 million in charges related to a restructuring of its ties with Ford.

"They are in the process of trying to create a viable business from not viable businesses and clearly, they have a ways to go yet," said Morningstar analyst Phil Guziec.

Visteon is attempting to turn what was an internal Ford cost base into a smaller, independent viable business, while Ford has an incentive to ensure Visteon's transition to keep its supply base going, Guziec said.

The latest quarter included charges of $41 million, or 33 cents a share, mainly for a buyout program on salaried workers in the United States. Analysts, on average, expected a loss of 77 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue rose 5 percent to $4.7 billion for the Van Buren Township, Michigan-based parts supplier.

Visteon and Ford, which accounted for nearly 70 percent of Visteon revenue in 2004, agreed to restructure their relationship a year ago. However, Visteon said in September that it would have to do more to reverse the declines.

Late in 2004, Visteon offered buyouts to the majority of its 8,300 U.S. salaried employees. It said on Monday that it expects about 400 to leave the company by the end of March. Continued ...

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Hmm...so does this mean Visteon will be pulling back its racing sponsorships?

MADCAT

I was reading the Globe and Mail paper yesterday and detailing that if Visteon goes down, FORD will go down with it. Maybe not go down, but'll it;ll have a huge debt to pay. And again, UNION workers are the main casues of their problems.