Jabil Posts Lower 4Q Profit But Surpasses Street

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jabil Circuit Inc. posted a sharp drop in its fiscal fourth-quarter profit Tuesday, hurt by charges and lower revenue, but the electronics parts maker said the worst of the recession appears to be over.

The company's results easily surpassed Wall Street's expectations and Jabil's own forecast, and shares surged in after-hours trading.

For the three months ended Aug. 31, the company earned $5.5 million, or 3 cents per share, down from a profit of $57.5 million, or 30 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Excluding items such as restructuring charges, the company earned 16 cents per share for the quarter.

Revenue fell 14 percent to $2.8 billion from $3.26 billion.

Analysts, on average, were expecting a profit of 8 cents per share on sales of $2.66 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters. Analysts typically exclude one-time items from their estimates.

"Marked improvement in our sequential performance was aided by cost cutting, increased productivity, market share gains and a more benign end-market environment," said President and CEO Timothy L. Main in a statement.