Timken Slashes 2009 Earnings Guidance

However, sales in the aerospace and defense business are expected to rise about 5 percent to 10 percent for 2009 due to strong demand.

The Canton, Ohio, company said Monday first-quarter net income plunged to $870,000, or a penny per share, from $84.5 million, or 88 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Excluding special items, net income totaled $7.1 million, or 7 cents per share.

Revenue fell 33 percent to $960.4 million from $1.43 billion in the same quarter in 2008.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 2 cents per share, on revenue of $1.08 billion.

The company also cut its quarterly dividend in half to 9 cents per share.

Shares shed $2.39, or 14.2 percent, to $14.46 in afternoon trading, after falling as much as 25.6 percent earlier in the day.