(RTTNews) - Engineered electronic components manufacturer Tyco Electronics Ltd. (TEL: News ) reported Wednesday that profit for the fourth quarter plunged 54% from last year, hurt by a 25% drop in quarterly revenues as well as lower margins. All of the company's business units also reported double digit sales drop. The company also provided earnings sales forecast for the first quarter of fiscal 2010.

In a statement, chief executive officer, Tom Lynch said, "Our fourth quarter was a strong finish to a challenging year. Sales increased 8 percent sequentially due to continued improvement in our automotive and consumer-related businesses which grew 17 percent. This more than offset the expected slowdown in our Undersea Telecommunications segment. The aggressive cost actions we initiated in response to the downturn, coupled with the sales increase, improved our adjusted operating margins from 5 to 8 percent sequentially."

Fourth Quarter Results

The Schaffhausen, Switzerland-based company posted net income of $93 million or $0.20 per share for the fourth quarter, sharply lower than $202 million or $0.43 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Income from continuing operations declined to $83 million or $0.18 per share from $88 million or $0.19 per share in the year-ago quarter.

The results for the latest quarter include $0.08 per share of net restructuring and other charges, $0.09 per share of income tax related charges, and $0.04 per share of income related to a gain from the early retirement of debt. The prior-year quarter results included $0.46 per share of charges.

Excluding one-time items, adjusted income from continuing operations dropped to $140 million or $0.30 per share from $308 million or $0.65 per share in the comparable quarter a year ago.

The company said back in July that it expects GAAP earnings from continuing operations for the fourth quarter in a range of $0.15 to $0.22 per share, including restructuring and other charges of about $0.11 per share and about $0.04 per share related to a net gain on early retirement of debt. Adjusted earnings from continuing operations were expected by the company in a range of $0.22 to $0.29 per share.
Net sales for the quarter dropped 25% to $2.70 billion from $3.58 billion in the same quarter last year. Nine Wall Street analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $2.46 billion for the fourth quarter.

Peer Performance

Among Tyco's peers, Wallingford, Connecticut-based Amphenol Corp. (APH: News ) reported last month a 28% year-over-year drop in profit for the third quarter, reflecting lower sales on weak demand created by the economic downturn as well as currency translation impact. Net income was $80.92 million or $0.47 per share, down from $112.96 million or $0.63 per share last year. Quarterly net sales declined 17% to $716.57 million from $863.66 million a year ago.

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