International Paper Becomes Latest Dow Member to Warn

Author:: Chris Frankie
Publish date:: Dec 20, 2000 10:58 AM EST

International Paper

said today that it will miss Wall Street's fourth-quarter earnings estimates by about 14 cents a share, citing rising energy costs and market-related downtime.

The paper products company, which is based in Purchase, N.Y., joins a growing list of Dow components, including

Microsoft

(MSFT) - Get Report

Intel

(INTC) - Get Report

Honeywell

(HON) - Get Report

SBC Communications

(SBC)

General Motors

(GM) - Get Report

and

J.P. Morgan

(JPM) - Get Report

to offer a bleak forecast.

The company said it expects to earn 30 cents a share for the quarter, well below the 55 cents International Paper earned in the year-ago period. Ten analysts polled by

First Call/Thomson Financial

called for the company to earn 44 cents in the fourth quarter.

"We expected a seasonal slowdown in the quarter, but rising fuel costs and concerns about the economic outlook are impacting our business across the board," the company said in a statement.

Shares of International Paper fell $1.94, or 4.9%, to $37.56 in recent

New York Stock Exchange

trading.