Earnings per common share from continuing operations, before restructuring charges and other one-time gains or losses, for the fourth quarter 1999 were $.06, a significant improvement over the comparable $(.05) loss per common share loss in the fourth quarter of 1998 and a 100% improvement over third quarter 1999 earnings per common share of $.03. All per share amounts refer to both basic and diluted earnings per common share and are for continuing operations only.
For the full year 1999, sales were $334 million as compared to the prior year sales of $388 million. Earnings from continuing operations before restructuring charges and other one-time gains and losses were $.03 per common share in 1999 versus $.08 per common share in 1998.
As a result of the previously announced restructuring actions, the Company incurred a charge of $8.0 million, net of related income taxes, or $.29 per common share, in the fourth quarter of 1999, related to the discontinuance of certain product lines, and the closing of the Solon, Ohio facility, including costs of employee severance and asset valuations, the Company incurred a charge of $7.9 million, net of related income taxes, or $.29 per common share, in the fourth quarter of 1999. After including restructuring charges and other one-time gains and losses, earnings from continuing operations were losses of $(.23) per common share and $(.19) per common share for the fourth quarter and full year 1999, respectively. The Company expects to incur an additional restructuring charge of $.5 to $1.0 million, net of related income taxes, in the first quarter of 2000 related to the final closing of the Solon, Ohio facility.
Robert G. Paul, President and Chief Executive Officer of Allen Telecom, stated: 1999 was a turnaround year for us. We continued our strong focus on cost containment and saw that impact on our improved economics. We announced the closing of our Solon facility which has been operating at a loss for several years and divested a small division, Signal Science, which did not fit in our core business strategy. These actions are expected to further improve gross profit margins and reduce other expenses in 2000.
We see several positive growth indicators as we move into 2000. Our backlog on December 31, 1999 grew to $84.9 million, the fourth consecutive quarterly increase since December 1998 when the backlog was $52.8 million. The fourth quarter 1999 sales improvement represented the first year over year improvement in sales since the first quarter of 1998 and the best business economics of the year. And, while our sales for the full year 1999 were down 14% from 1998, second half 1999 sales of $180 million were 17.5% higher than the first half of 1999.
