IKON 1Q PROFIT SLIDES:SHARES PLUNGE

[Anonymous]

Ikon 1Q Profit Slides; Shares Plunge
Ikon Office Solutions Inc., which sells and leases copiers, printers, fax machines and other office equipment, said Thursday its fiscal first-quarter profit edged down and issued lackluster guidance, sending its shares plunging in morning trading.For the quarter ended Dec. 31, the company earned $27.3 million, or 21 cents per share, down 1 percent from $27.6 million, or 21 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year. The company had 129.3 million shares outstanding in the latest quarter, down 4 percent from the year-ago period.Revenue slid 3 percent to $1 billion from $1.04 billion.Analysts, on average, were looking for earnings of 22 cents per share on sales of $1.02 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.The quarter’s profit was within Ikon’s outlook range of 20 cents to 22 cents per share, but the company said it is “not pleased” with its top line performance in the first quarter.Ikon said it expects second-quarter earnings between 19 cents and 21 cents per share, below analysts’ target of 22 cents per share.For the full year, the company sees earnings in the range of 90 cents to 95 cents per share, bracketing analysts’ view of 93 cents per share.Shares fell $1.73, or 10.3 percent, to $15.15 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $11.29 and $17.41.

[Author]

February 1, 2007 at 9:48 AM