Unisys Falls 4% on Revenue Shortfall

Fourth-quarter revenue will shrink from year-ago levels, though earnings will hit targets.

Author:: Yi Ping Ho
Publish date:: Dec 7, 2000 3:13 PM EST

Unisys

forecast on-target fourth-quarter earnings but warned of a revenue shortfall as it quits some businesses.

The Blue Bell, Pa., Internet business firm also set a fourth-quarter pretax charge of $150 million to $175 million to cut 2,000 jobs by year-end. The company employs about 36,000 workers now.

According to estimate tracker

First Call/Thomson Financial

, nine analysts expect Unisys to earn 41 cents a share for its fourth quarter, down from 46 cents a year ago. Analysts on average expect fourth-quarter revenue of $2.05 billion, compared with $1.96 billion last year. Unisys said Thursday it expects revenue to fall short of that year-ago figure, "assuming a 2% to 3% negative impact due to our decision to exit commodity products and another 6% for unfavorable currency exchange."

For 2001, Unisys expects earnings per share to be "on target" with analysts' expectations, with double-digit EPS growth for the full year. The First Call consensus estimate calls for 2001 earnings of $1.35 a share, compared with the estimated $1.06 a share in 2000.

Unisys also set services and procurement agreements with

Dell

(DELL) - Get Report

and

Ingram Micro

(IM)

Shares of Unisys slipped 56 cents, or 4%, to $13.56 on the New York Stock Exchange.