Loss Widens at International Rectifier

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Shares of International Rectifier Corp. fell in after-hours trading Monday after the chipmaker reported a substantially larger quarterly loss, largely due to higher costs associated with closing a manufacturing facility and declining revenue.

After the markets closed, the El Segundo maker of semiconductors for power supply and power management uses reported a fiscal second-quarter net loss of $32.7 million (47 cents a share), 411 percent greater than the same period a year earlier. Revenue fell 11 percent, to less than $225 million.

Adjusted for one-time items, including charges associated with closing its El Segundo chip fabrication plant, the loss was $30.3 million (44 cents). Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters on average expected the company to report an adjusted loss of 47 cents a share on revenue of $223 million.

The company announced in August that it planned closing its original semiconductor wafer fabrication facility in El Segundo by March to lower operating expenses in and effort to return to profitability amid a still slow global economy.

International Rectifier expects revenue for the current quarter to range between $220 million and $235 million, in line with Wall Street expectations.

“We expected a challenging December quarter given industry conditions,” Chief Executive Officer Oleg Khaykin said in a statement. “The market indicators are showing encouraging signs that a bottom has formed and demand is slowly starting to improve.”

Shares, which earlier closed up 36 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $20.10 on the Nasdaq, fell 2 percent in aftermarket trading.