Superior Industries International Inc

Superior Industries International Inc., an aluminum wheel supplier to most major U.S. and foreign automakers, said Tuesday that it would close its plant in Van Nuys by the end of the second quarter and fire 290 employees, or 9% of its workforce. The company, which expects to save $16.5 million annually in labor costs, said it was making the cuts because the slumping vehicle sales mean less demand for wheels.

Superior Industries International Inc., Van Nuys, announced that it has won multiyear contracts worth more than $250 million annually for its aluminum wheels and automotive components from several major auto manufacturers. The contracts include reorders for 2000 model year vehicles from Mercury, Chevrolet, General Motors and BMW as well as new business from unnamed global auto manufacturers.

Aluminum wheel maker Superior Industries International Inc. of Van Nuys said its loss widened in the third quarter as hemorrhaging automakers scaled back production. Shares fell $1.20 to $11.83 after the worse-than-expected report. Superior reported a loss of $14.2 million, or 53 cents a share, for the period ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss of $739,000, or 3 cents, a year earlier. Results included a $5-million pretax charge to close its Pittsburg, Kan., facility in December.

Van Nuys-based Superior Industries International Inc. said it agreed to form a joint venture with Germany's Otto Fuchs Metallwerke to produce aluminum wheels for the European automotive market. . . . Monsanto Co. said it has completed its acquisition of Merck & Co.'s San Diego-based Kelco specialty chemicals unit for about $1.08 billion.

Superior Industries International Inc., Van Nuys, reported net income of $19.2 million for the second quarter ending June 30, an increase of 56% over its $12.3 million for the like quarter of 1998. Revenues rose 12% to $155 million. Superior supplies aluminum wheels and other aluminum components to auto makers.

Superior Industries International Inc. said that it has won orders for aluminum road wheels from DaimlerChrysler Corp. The terms were not disclosed. Van Nuys-based Superior supplies aluminum wheels and other aluminum components to Ford, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Rover, Toyota, Mazda, Nissan and Isuzu.

Superior Industries International Inc., a maker of car and truck wheels, said third-quarter earnings fell 39% because of production declines and increased costs. Net income fell to $10.7 million, or 40 cents a share, from $17.7 million, or 65 cents, in the year-earlier period. Sales were little changed at $187.4 million as shipments decreased 2%, the Van Nuys firm said.

Superior Industries International Inc. said its losses deepened in the third quarter as struggling carmakers including Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. cut back their demand for the company's aluminum wheels. The Van Nuys-based company posted a quarterly loss of $7.7 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $133,000, or break-even on a per-share basis. Sales slipped 2% to $174.3 million from $178.3 million a year earlier.

Van Nuys-based wheel maker Superior Industries International Inc. said it was closing a Tennessee factory because production cuts by U.S. automakers were reducing demand. Shutting the Johnson City plant will eliminate about 500 jobs, the company said. Including a total of 600 positions trimmed this year at factories in California and Arkansas, Superior has reduced employment by 16% from 6,700 at the end of 2005.

* A judge in Houston delayed the sentencing of former Enron Corp. executives Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling to Oct. 23 to give their lawyers more time to prepare appeals. * Van Nuys-based Superior Industries International Inc., which manufactures automotive wheels, said it would lay off about 225 chrome-plating workers at a plant in Fayetteville, Ark. * A federal judge approved Dutch retailer Royal Ahold's $1.

Leading aluminum wheel maker Superior Industries International Inc. said Wednesday that it would fire 375 employees, or nearly 6% of its workforce, as it tried to steer the company in a new direction. The layoff affects more than half of the 635 manufacturing workers at its Van Nuys plant and comes amid a difficult time for the industry, which has been beset by increased competition and a slowdown in production by U.S. automakers.

Hilton Hotels Corp. said Wednesday that second-quarter profit more than doubled, boosted by hotel sales and higher room rates in key destinations including New York, Hawaii and Boston. Net income at the third-largest U.S. hotel chain rose to $202 million, or 49 cents a share, from $75 million, or 19 cents, a year earlier as revenue rose 10% to $1.18 billion.

Van Nuys wheel maker Superior Industries International Inc. said Friday that declining orders might cut second-quarter earnings to as little as 15 cents a share, which would be its lowest quarterly profit since 1991. The company's shares fell nearly 2% on the news. Superior, the world's No. 2 automotive wheel maker in terms of annual revenue, said profit in the period ended June 30 was expected to be 15 cents to 17 cents a share.

Superior Industries International Inc., the Van Nuys-based manufacturer of aluminum car wheels, said it will repurchase up to 1 million shares of its common stock. Superior Industries has about 30.1 million shares outstanding. Louis Borick, chairman and president, said he believed that the current stock price did not adequately represent the value of Superior's shares.

Superior Industries International Inc., the Van Nuys maker of cast aluminum wheels, has struck a deal with Ford Motor Co. to supply wheels for Ford's Escort and Mercury Tracer models. The company said it will begin shipping the wheels in December. The agreement is expected to add $12.5 million to Superior's annual revenues. The company reported revenue of $393 million in 1993.