The final quarter of the year is when poor management decisions come home to roost in the form of impairment charges and other writedowns, and 2016 was no exception with over $1 billion sliced off the bottom lines of companies moving to set their balance sheets straight. Industry profits dropped 11% to $2,095.8 million in the fourth quarter from $2,367.2 million last year as revenues increased 5% to $43,086.3 million from $40,896.4 million. Return on sales fell to 4.86% from 5.79%. The decline in net income follows a 14% drop in Q4 last year. In addition to writedowns, warm weather ... Log in to view full article.