Apr 07, 2010. /Lesprom Network/. Insolvent newsprint giant AbitibiBowater trimmed its losses in the 4Q to $314 million even as sales decreased 30% to $1.1 billion, as The Canadian Press reported. The Montreal-based producer lost $5.43 per share for the period ended December 31. That compared to a loss of $24.85 a year earlier when the net loss totalled $1.433 billion. Lower newsprint prices pushed sales down to $1.126 billion from $1.617 billion in the year-ago period. For the year, AbitibiBowater lost $1.55 billion, or $26.91 per share. That's an improvement from a loss of $2.23 billion or $38.79 per share in 2008. Sales decreased 35.5% to $4.366 billion, from $6.771 billion. The company spent $639 million on reorganization costs for the year.