Avery Dennison 3Q Profit Flat As Sales Decline

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Adhesive label and retail ticket maker Avery Dennison Corp. on Tuesday posted a flat third-quarter profit, weighed down by a 10 percent sales decline.

The company earned $62.5 million, or 59 cents per share, down slightly from $62.7 million, or 63 cents per share, in the 2008 period.

Adjusted for restructuring and asset impairment charges and other items, the company earned 82 cents per share.

The per-share figures represent a 7 percent increase in outstanding shares year over year.

Sales fell to $1.55 billion, from $1.72 billion last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected profit of 57 cents per share, on sales of $1.47 billion. Analysts typically exclude one-time items from their estimates.

The company attributed the sales declines to reduced demand because of the economy, which hurt its consumer products and retail divisions and its specialty converting businesses, which sold less to the housing and construction industries.

Avery Dennison shares rose $1.12, or 3 percent, to $37.96. The stock has traded between $17.02 and $39.12 in the past 52 weeks, and is up about 13 percent since the start of the year.