DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Jabil Circuit Inc.'s (JBL) fiscal fourth-quarter profit - the first after three consecutive losses - sank 90% on lower sales and margins, but markets continued to improve.
Shares jumped 8.7% to $13.35 in after-hours trading as the electronics-component maker's results topped its guidance and it predicted fiscal first-quarter results above Wall Street's expectations. The stock has quadrupled from a 13-year low in March.
Jabil expects earnings of 24 cents to 32 cents a share on revenue of $3 billion to $3.2 billion, while analysts estimated 18 cents and $2.88 billion, respectively, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.
Jabil also said it expects to sell its automotive electronics manufacturing plant in Western Europe during the first fiscal quarter and is likely to post a loss of $20 million to $25 million on the sale.
The company, which supplies circuit boards used in computers and automobiles, has taken two big goodwill write-downs and reduced capacity amid the recession. The company recently extended the maturity of about $293 million in debt through a sale and repurchase of notes.
For the quarter ended Aug. 31, Jabil reported a profit of $5.5 million, or 3 cents a share, down from $57.5 million, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding items such as restructuring and stock-compensation costs, earnings fell to 16 cents from 30 cents.
Revenue dropped 14% to $2.8 billion.
In June, Jabil predicted earnings of 2 cents to 12 cents a share on revenue of $2.5 billion to $2.7 billion, with the sales view below analysts' then-expectations.
Gross margin fell to 6.8% from 7%.
-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2357; Kathy.Shwiff@dowjones.com