advertisement

---

On March 9, Trinity Industries Inc. estimated that its FY 2002 production would drop from a projected 14,000 rail cars to between 10,000 and 12,000 rail cars — quite a dip from the 16,000 rail cars the company manufactured in FY 2001.
On March 27, that dip grew into a gulf. Due to a decrease in cyclical demand for North American rail cars, Trinity now projects building between 2,500 and 3,000 rail cars during its first fiscal quarter beginning April 1, and then reducing quarterly production levels between 15 percent and 20 percent.
"We will continue to monitor our order levels and flex with the demands of the market," said Tim Wallace, Trinity chairman, president and chief executive officer, in a prepared statement. "As we reduce our production, we’re placing existing orders in our lowest cost facilities."
Trinity also expects to record a fourth-quarter FY 2001 charge of $17 million due to severance and asset write-ups — more than double its previously announced $8 million charge for the same quarter to exit the concrete-mixer and concrete batch plant business.
Despite the two charges, Trinity projects only a small loss in fourth-quarter operating revenue.
Company officials also believe it would be premature to revise Trinity’s FY 2002 earnings estimate of between $1.20 and $1.50 per share, although earnings may be at the lower end of the range unless rail-car order levels improve.