Union Carbide in Red for Quarter, Year

Union Carbide reported Thursday that it lost $211 million in the fourth quarter and $582 million for all of 1985 because of special charges related to its restructuring, litigation and its defense against a takeover bid by GAF Corp.

But Carbide Chairman Warren M. Anderson said the charges had “cleared the decks for profitable performance and growth in 1986 and beyond,” when Carbide will operate as a substantially smaller company than it did last year.

The after-tax charges totaled $248.4 million in the fourth quarter. Excluding the charges, the chemical giant said fourth-quarter earnings were $37.5 million. A year earlier, Carbide reported net income of $13 million.

Fourth-quarter revenue slipped to $2.32 billion from $2.38 billion.

Carbide said its earnings for all of 1985, excluding the charges, totaled $251 million, or $3.61 a share. In the previous year, Carbide earned $323 million. Annual revenue fell to $9 billion from $9.5 billion.

GAF, a specialty chemicals and building products concern based in Wayne, N.J., dropped its $74-a-share bid for Carbide earlier this month after Carbide launched an array of defensive moves but retained a 10% stake in Carbide.

Carbide said the fourth-quarter charges included $31.1 million for the cost of the stock swap, $92.4 million for restructuring and $100 million set aside for future settlement of legal claims.

The claims include those filed against the company because of the Dec. 3, 1984, accident in Bhopal, India.