Johnson Controls posts loss, shares fall

DETROIT (Reuters) - Auto parts maker Johnson Controls Inc posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss on Friday and forecast a similar loss in the current quarter, underscoring the worst auto market in decades.

Johnson Controls, whose shares fell nearly 9 percent, is planning additional cost-cutting actions in response to a deep downturn in North America, where 2009 auto production volumes could fall to their lowest levels since 1983.

"It became more apparent and evident that the depth and duration of the U.S. economic slowdown and recession was going to be greater than what we had initially expected," Johnson Controls Chief Executive Steve Roell said on a conference call.

Chief Operating Officer Keith Wandell added, "Our customers, especially in North America, are almost inevitably going to do some downsizing. We'll have to respond accordingly."

U.S. auto parts suppliers are reeling from tight credit, a housing market slump and a slowing economy, all of which have combined to drive down U.S. auto sales to decade lows. Demand in Europe and Asia has also followed the United States into a slump, dealing a further blow to the struggling supply base.

Johnson Controls expects 2009 auto production volumes to decline about 30 percent in Europe.

Johnson Controls, which makes car interiors, seating, batteries and building controls, said it is 30 percent complete in its plans to cut 9,300 jobs. In addition, it is freezing new hiring and salaries, eliminating annual bonuses for executives and considering four-day work week schedules, mostly in the automotive business.

For the fiscal first quarter ended December 31, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based supplier reported a net loss of $608 million, or $1.02 per share, from $235 million profit, or 39 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell 23 percent to $7.34 billion in the quarter, from $9.48 billion a year earlier.

Excluding items, Johnson Controls reported a loss of 14 cents per share. On that basis, analysts on average had expected a loss of 1 cent per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

The company expects to report an overall loss in the fiscal second quarter ending March similar in scale to the first quarter's operating loss.

Parts suppliers, whose balance sheets are already strained by tighter credit and plunging auto production, have taken a further hit in recent months by concerns about the health of their major customers.

Chrysler LLC, considered the weakest of the Detroit automakers, said on Thursday it would extend its month-long shutdown of its manufacturing operations at three plants, citing weak U.S. vehicle demand.

Johnson Controls said industrywide North American production volumes are expected to be down 46 percent in the January-March quarter.

Shares of Johnson Controls were down $1.47 or 8.6 percent at $15.60 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday afternoon.

(Editing by Derek Caney and Matthew Lewis)