Dana's Says Asbestos-Related Claims Reach 139,000.

Dana Corp. said it had about 139,000 asbestos-related product liability claims outstanding Dec. 31. Of those, about 24,000 were settled pending payment, according to the company's annual report.

The company had 100,000 asbestos-related claims outstanding at the same time the previous year, including 27,000 that were settled pending payment. Dana Corp. said it attributes the increase to the discontinuance in February 2001 of the Center for Claims Resolution, which had been administering the company's asbestos-related claims for several years, the filing said.

Dana had accrued $124 million on Sept. 30 for contingent asbestos-related product liability costs, and the company recorded $105 million as an asset for probable recoveries from insurers for those claims. According to the filing, the company has received $38 million from insurers, other reimbursements from settled claims and from related defense and indemnity costs for pending and potential claims.

Separately, Dana said it had accrued $59 million for contingent environmental liabilities Dec. 31. Dana said it based its environmental liability on laws, regulations, existing technology and the most probable method of remediation, according to the filing. The company said it doesn't expect any recovery from other parties.

Elsewhere in the filing, Dana said it expects its funding obligations for domestic pension plans to rise by $25 million to $35 million in 2003 as a result of increases in its minimum pension liability. The company said its pension funding obligations rose by $15 million in 2002. Dana also said it expects its 2003 pension expense will increase by $30 million over the previous year's expenses, according to the filing. The increase would be the result of changes in the company's discount rate and in its assumptions about the expected return on plan assets.

Also in the Form 10-K filed with the SEC, Dana said it expects capital spending of around $350 million in 2003. In 2002, the company's capital spending amounted to $375 million, a decline of $50 million from the 2001 capital-spending total, despite significant expenditures associated with several product launches in their automotive- structures business.