In spite of its announcement of strong sales for both the fourth quarter and fiscal year, shares of Tech Data were trading down on Thursday morning after the distributor downgraded Wall Street's expectations for the first quarter.
The Clearwater, Fla.-based distributor said it expects mid-single-digit growth in the Americas in the first quarter of fiscal year 2008, but expects flat growth in Europe after a strong fourth quarter.
Sales for the fourth quarter, which ended Jan. 31, were $6.1 billion, up 10.7 percent from $5.5 billion in the fourth quarter last year. The company earned $36.1 million, or 66 cents per share, up 22 percent from $29.5 million, or 52 cents per share, for the fourth quarter last year.
Tech Data had expected flat growth in Europe for the fourth quarter, but saw more than 5 percent net sales growth, which translated to more than 15 percent growth in U.S. dollars when the stronger Euro was taken into account, CEO Bob Dutkowsky told analysts Thursday.
Tech Data saw sales increase for fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2007, posting $21.4 billion in sales, up 4.7 percent from $20.5 billion the previous year. Sales in the Americas, 46 percent of net sales, were $9.9 billion, an increase of 5.3 percent from $9.5 billion. European sales came in at $11.5 billion, up 4.1 percent from $11 billion in the prior year.
Tech Data said it expects sales of $5.2 billion to $5.35 billion for the first quarter, ending in April. Analysts expected to look for sales of $5.37 billion for the first quarter of the year.
In early afternoon trading, the company's stock was selling at $36.20, down 4.84 percent.
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