GATX SEES $29.4-MILLION 4TH-QUARTER NET LOSS

GATX SEES $29.4-MILLION 4TH-QUARTER NET LOSS    GATX Corp., a Chicago-based transportation finance and leasing company, posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $29.4 million, compared to a net loss of $12.1 million in the prior year period.
   For all of 2002, GATX reported net income of $300,000, compared to net income of $172.9 million in 2001.
   Ronald H. Zech, chairman and president of GATX, called the financial results for the year “disappointing.”
   Rail and technology sectors of GATX “continue to mirror weak economic conditions, (while) volatility and uncertainty remain in the air sector,” Zech said.
   Fourth-quarter and full-year results included $18 million of after-tax impairment charges on aircraft, an $11-million charge for workforce reduction “due to the company’s exit of the specialty and venture business and a company-wide reorganization,” and a $9-million write-down of goodwill after GATX left a venture-leasing business.