(Adds background, stock performance, and resumption in trading)
Oct 25 (Reuters) - Fletcher Building Ltd FBU.NZ , New Zealand's biggest construction company, said on Wednesday its 2018 financial year earnings would be hit by a NZ$160 million ($110.38 million) loss before interest and tax at its building business.
The company, which attributed the losses to mistakes made at legacy building projects, also said it appointed Ross Taylor as its new chief executive, effective Nov. 22. Former chief executive Mark Adamson stepped down from his role in July formerly headed engineering and construction company UGL, which is now owned by the Spanish-controlled CIMIC Group Ltd CIM.AX .
The inability to manage costs has plagued Fletcher recently, leading it to lower two earnings forecasts earlier this year. This is the first guidance issued for 2017-18.
The company's stock is one of the worst performers on the New Zealand main index .NZ50 so far this year, having shed nearly 25 percent.
The builder said that when the struggling Buildings and Interiors projects are stripped out of forecasts, it expected full-year core earnings for the group to be in the range of NZ$680 million to NZ$720 million.
In August, the company reported an 80 percent plunge in its fiscal 2017 earnings to NZ$94 million, hurt by a NZ$292 million loss in its building unit of the company will resume trading when markets open on Wednesday, Fletcher said. ($1 = 1.4495 New Zealand dollars)