Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions)Your first question comes from Frank Mitsch - BB&T Capital Markets.
Frank Mitsch - BB&T Capital Markets
Just a clarification, $3.3 million unusual non-cash pension curtailment charge? Does that show up in the corporate other pension income or in the Winchester line?
John Fischer
It shows up in corporate and other.
Frank Mitsch - BB&T Capital Markets
So, that keeps that run rate decline like $4.5 million, $5 million which is what it had been. Then you had mentioned, despite sales being significantly higher in the fourth quarter, you had some other cost that impacted Winchester’s profitability because frankly we would have though that income would have been a little bit higher given the higher sales, but you are expecting the first quarter of ?09 to be inline with a very strong first quarter of ’08 on a Winchester side?
I guess, you guys have been known for providing relatively tight ranges of a nickel for quarterly, but given the uncertainties you are proving at $0.15 range. Is there a rule of form that we could apply in terms of Chlor Alkali operating rates, which is what I believe the significant swing factors between the $0.50 and $0.65? Do you have any sense as to, if operating rates come in at 60% industry-wide, you are at $0.50. When they come in at 75%, you’re at 65%. Is there something that you could help us out with in terms of our industry operating rate expectations for the first quarter?
John Fischer
Frank, the reason we gave the range is because of that uncertainty. As we pointed out in January running in the 60’s at this point in time, and we announced that we were at 67% in the fourth quarter of last year and I think what we would say is obviously with higher operating rates we are going to be upper at upper-end of that range, and with lower operating rates we are going to be at the lower-end of the range. We thought that, that was the best way to try to explain our uncertainty here.
Frank Mitsch - BB&T Capital Markets
Well at this point you haven’t seen the pickup, but I guess there is an expectation as we hit the warmer months of March, April etc. that you would see meaningfully higher operating rates, is that your expectation?
John McIntosh
Frank, this is John. Let me make a couple of comments, if I could. Anecdotally what we normally have in terms of visibility is especially from major customers. We would normally be able to look at the whole quarter and define our forecast based on that. Most of our major customers now can even provide us accurate information for the current month.
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