The Portland company doesn't expect a rebound anytime soon.

Portland industrial manufacturer Precision Castparts Corp. recorded just $6.5 billion in sales last year, down 11.6% and the weakest performance since 2011. That’s according to financial results released Monday by its parent company, Berkshire Hathaway.

Pretax profits were up nearly 80%, though, to $1.2 billion, because of “actions taken by management to resize, restructure and improve operations and to prepare for more normalized demand.”

Precision Castparts eliminated more than 13,000 jobs worldwide in 2020 as sales tanked.

Precision Castparts makes heavy metal components for aircraft, generators and other heavy industry. It was Oregon’s second-most-valuable company at the time of its $37 billion sale in 2016.

Boeing is among Precision Castparts’ biggest customers, and so the Portland company struggled as Boeing’s sales cratered during the 737 MAX crisis and reduced air travel during the pandemic. Precision Castparts’ sales are down about 40% over the past two years.

Berkshire Hathaway said Monday, “We do not expect significant increases in PCC’s aerospace revenues or earnings to occur in the near term,” primarily because Boeing is building relatively few planes.

Last year, Berkshire Hathaway wrote down the value of its Precision Castparts acquisition by $10 billion and CEO Warren Buffett described the deal as an expensive mistake.

However, Buffett has stood by Precision Castparts’ management. He blamed himself for being overly optimistic about the company’s profit potential.

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | Twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699

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