Motorola ekes out profit; sales fall 15.07.2003 22:30 Headlines
WASHINGTON (AFX) -- Motorola on Tuesday posted its fourth straight quarterly
profit by the barest margin, but sales weakened again, primarily owing to slack
demand in Asia.
Motorola, which of weaker results, also said it doesn't expect much improvement
in the second half of the year. The company issued a third-quarter profit
forecast that fell a penny below Wall Street expectations.
In the second quarter, Motorola said it earned $119 million, or 5 cents a
share, compared with a loss of $2.3 billion, or $1.02, a year ago.
Excluding one-time items, the company reported income of $19 million, or 1 cent
a share, down from $39 million, or 2 cents. That exceeded by one penny the
consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
Revenue fell 10 percent to $6.2 billion from $6.9 billion a year ago.
The company blamed the outbreak of the SARS disease in China and an excess
inventory buildup of wireless phones and the computer chips used in them. In
May, it closed its main office in China due to concerns about the spreading
disease.
Also hurting results: the temporary disruption of work at the company's chip
manufacturing plant in Sendai, Japan. The area was hit by an earthquake in late
May.
For the third quarter, the company forecast sales of $6.3 billion to $6.5
billion, with profit of 2 cents to 4 cents a share, excluding special items. The
company had been expected to earn 5 cents, according to First Call.
On Tuesday, shares of Motorola rose 26 cents to 49.76.
This story was supplied by CBSMarketWatch. For further information see
www.cbsmarketwatch.com.
Motorola ekes out profit, sees sluggish third quarter 15.07.2003 22:30 Headlines
WASHINGTON (AFX) -- Motorola on Tuesday posted its fourth straight quarterly
profit - by the barest margin - but sales weakened again owing to slack demand
in Asia. In the second quarter, Motorola said it earned $119 million, or 5
cents a share, compared with a loss of $2.3 billion, or $1.02, a year ago.
Excluding one-time items, the company reported income of $19 million, or 1 cent
a share, down from $39 million, or 2 cents. That exceeded by one penny the
consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call. Revenue fell 10 percent to
$6.2 billion from $6.9 billion a year ago. Looking ahead, Motorola said it does
not see much improvement in the second half of the year. In the third quarter,
Motorola expects sales of $6.3 billion to $6.5 billion and earnings per share of
2 cents to 4 cents, excluding special items. Wall Street had been expecting
per-share earnings of 5 cents.
This story was supplied by CBSMarketWatch. For further information see
www.cbsmarketwatch.com.
