*** Bicycle maker Huffy files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection ***
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- 10/20/2004
Bicycle maker Huffy Corp. said Wednesday that it had
filed for bankruptcy protection amid mounting losses.
The company lost $7.5 million in 2003 and its stock plummeted
from $6.80 a share in December to 58 cents in August, when the
New York Stock Exchange suspended trading because the
company's market value had fallen too low.
Huffy cited losses from a Canadian s****ts equipment company
it had sold and said it would now focus on bikes and golf products.
"I am confident that Huffy will emerge as a stronger and more
competitive organization, well-positioned to succeed," John
Muskovich, president and chief operating officer, said in a
company announcement.
Huffy's bicycle division has been performing solidly,
holding about 30 percent of the U.S. bike market.
But the company recently sold its basketball-backboard unit
and part of its Canada-based Gen-X business, which makes
equipment for golf, snowboarding, inline skating, skiing and hockey.
Huffy's roots began in 1892 when George Huffman, owner
of the Davis Sewing Machine Co., oversaw production of the
company's first bicycle. He founded Huffman Co. in 1925
and later changed its name.
By the late 1990s, foreign competition began to take its toll and
Huffy had closed its last U.S. bicycle plants and moved production
to Asia and Mexico.
Huffy said daily operations at its U.S. and Canadian subsidiaries
would continue during Chapter 11 proceedings meant to protect
the company from creditors. Huffy employs about 140 workers
in the Dayton area, Toronto and Carson, Calif.
The company said it has obtained $50 million in financing to help
it continue operating and meet its commitments to customers.
A message left at Huffy headquarters
Wednesday morning was not immediately returned.
CC - The Associated Press (AP) Wire.
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