CHICAGO - BOEING on Wednesday reported a loss of US$205 million (S$307 million) in the fourth quarter as the aerospace giant felt the impact of a machinists' strike and costs to redesign its 747 freighter aircraft.

The loss marked a sharp turnaround from a profit of $1.5 billion in the same period a year earlier. Revenues in the quarter fell 27 per cent to $12.7 billion.

For the full year of 2008, profits fell 34 per cent to $2.7 billion and revenue fell eight per cent to $60.9 billion.

Boeing said its results were hit by the strike, the 747 charge, litigation costs and other charges.

'The progress we made in many areas of Boeing during 2008 was outweighed by the impact of the strike and our performance on some key development programs,' said Boeing chairman and chief executive Jim McNerney.

'Our imperative going forward is improving execution where it needs to be improved, maintaining strong performance across all our production programs, and preserving our financial strength to grow in these challenging economic times.'

Boeing's 27,000 machinists, representing 16 per cent of the company's work force, walked off the job on September 6 in a dispute over new contracts, causing delays in production and deliveries.

The 58-day strike ended November 2 but cost the firm billions of dollars. -- AFP