Global claims services group Crawford & Company has reported a net loss of $US45.5 million ($60 million) for the 12 months ending December 31.

This compared to a net profit of $US30.6 million ($40.4 million) for the corresponding 2014 result.

Attributing to the loss was $US49 million ($64.7 million) of goodwill impairment charges for the 2015 financial year and $US34 million ($44 million) of restructuring costs.

In the last quarter of the 2015 financial year, Crawford restructured its global operations, moving its Canadian and Latin American businesses out of the Americas division.

This created a new international division that also includes Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. The Americas division now is just the company’s US operations.

Crawford & Company interim CEO Harsha Agadi says the restructuring has removed more than $US25 million ($33 million) of costs from the bottom line.

“While the market backdrop continued to be challenging through the fourth quarter, we moved aggressively to execute our restructuring plan,” he said.

“Early signs of success can be seen in our performance this quarter as our consolidated operating earnings increased 24% over the fourth quarter of 2014.”

Crawford’s consolidated earnings for the 2015 financial year were down to $US70 million ($92.5 million). This compared to earnings of $US73 million ($96.4 million) in 2014.

International earnings, including Asia Pacific, were also down from $US25 million ($33 million) in 2014 to $US18.7 million ($24.7 million) for the year ending December 31.

Mr Agadi says the “overall results are not yet where they need to be”.

“Looking forward, we are aggressively re-positioning our company to deliver more predictable financial results and growth as we strive to create long-term shareholder value.”

For the 2016 financial year Crawford is forecasting consolidated revenues of up to $US1.1 billion ($1.4 billion) and operating earnings of between $US80-$90 million ($105-$118 million).

There will be further restructuring charge of $US15.6 million ($20 million), with about half of that cost relating to the global businesses.