Fairchild quarter loss totals $16.2 million

SOUTH PORTLAND – Fairchild Semiconductor International on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter loss of $16.2 million, or 16 cents per diluted share.

For the same period last year, the company reported net income of $93.7 million, or 92 cents per diluted share.

Revenues fell 31 percent from the year-ago period, from $468.8 million to $324.5 million, reflecting a sharp drop-off in demand in the technology sector.

The company said the fourth-quarter loss included unusual charges of $11.2 million, of which $7.2 million was spent on severance pay and other costs of work force reductions.

Fairchild, which manufactures semiconductors for various electronic devices, reported fourth-quarter pro forma net income, which excludes unusual charges, of $400,000, or less than a penny per share. This beat the consensus estimate from Thomson Financial/First Call of a 4 cent per share loss.

Kirk Pond, the company’s president and CEO, said he believes the semiconductor market is starting to recover and pointed to a 3 percent increase in trade sales from the third quarter.

For the 12 months ended Dec. 31, the company reported a net loss of $41.7 million, or 42 cents per diluted share, compared to a profit of $273.1 million, or $2.69 per diluted share, for the same period in 2000.

Revenues for the 12-month period ended Dec. 31 were $1.41 billion, down 21 percent from revenues of $1.783 billion in the previous year.