Zebra Technologies Corp. (ZBRA), 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.
Net sales for the most recent period were down year-over-year to $581.06 million from $744.13 million.
Anders Gustafsson, Zebra's chief executive officer, said, "Zebra will continue to capitalize on our strategic and financial strength as the business environment improves by investing in global expansion and other high-returning activities to deliver better customer service, improve operational efficiency, and build stockholder value."
In addition, Zebra Technologies said during the three-month period, it repurchased 326 thousand shares of Class A Common Stock. The company added that at the end of the third quarter, it had 2.79 million shares remaining in its stock buyback authorization and 58.83 million shares of common stock outstanding.
Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, the company expects earnings per share to be in a range of $0.18 - $0.25, including expected exit and restructuring costs of $0.03 per share. Analysts estimate earnings of $0.28 per share for the quarter.
Besides, net sales for the fourth quarter are projected to be between $200 million and $212 million. Analysts anticipate revenues of $204.91 million for the quarter.
Shares of ZBRA closed Tuesday's session at $25.05, down $0.12, on a volume of 629K shares.
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