(RTTNews) - Zebra Technologies Corp. (ZBRA: News ), a manufacturer of thermal bar code printers, Wednesday reported a decline in profit for the third quarter, reflecting reduction in sales due to lower economic activity. The company also provided fourth quarter earnings and revenue forecast.

The US-based company's net income for the three-month period plummeted to $11.11 million or $0.19 per share from last year's $25.77 million or $0.40 per share. Excluding taxes, net income was $16.34 million, lower than $35.6 million in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

The company noted that the quarterly results included $3.52 million in exit, restructuring and integration costs, which lowered diluted earnings by $0.04 per share. The year-ago results also included a $0.04 per share impact from exit, restructuring and integration costs, said Zebra Technologies.

On average, 9 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.21 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the most recent quarter dipped to $200.78 million from $244.07 million in the same period prior year, hurt by lower economic activity. Analysts anticipated revenues of $192.60 million for the quarter. Sequentially, net sales rose 13.2%, mainly driven by relatively better performance in North America.
Segment-wise, hardware division generated sales of $131.48 million, a decrease of 25.1%, from last year's $175.66 million. Sales from supplies division declined to $43.23 million from $45.53 million in the prior year. Sales in service and software division was down to $25.44 million from $26.26 million on year. Sales in shipping and handling segment plunged 26.9% to $1.25 million from $1.71 million in the preceding year.

Gross profit for the most recent quarter plunged to $91.7 million from $117.79 million in the preceding year. General and administraive expenses for the third quarter of fiscal 2009 increased to $23.35 million from $18.53 million in the previous year. Also, the company incurred asset impairment charges of $88 thousand in the latest quarter. Operating income for the quarter plummeted to $15.15 million from $40.68 million reported last year.

For the first nine months of fiscal 2009, Zebra Technologies' net income was $29.47 million or $0.49 per share, sharply down from $78.94 million or $1.20 per share in the corresponding period last year. Pre-tax income fell to $43.34 million from $116.78 million on year.

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