Lexmark Turns in Lower Revenue, Earnings for Second Quarter

It was the second straight year of declines for Lexington, Kentucky-based Lexmark in its second quarter, and company executives put the blame on sluggish sales of inkjet printer supplies in the consumer segment. Sales in the commercial space were stronger, Lexmark said.

"Although we had a shortfall in our consumer market segment. . . , the business market segment performed about as expected. In addition, we had strong branded unit growth in our key focus segments of color laser, laser multifunction products and inkjet all-in-ones, and cash flow for the quarter was good as Lexmark continued to have a strong financial position and balance sheet," Lexmark chairman and CEO, Paul Curlander, said in a statement. Curlander was scheduled to speak with financial analysts Tuesday morning to explain the compnay's results in greater detail.

Lexmark did top analyst expectations for earnings per share - - which were revised downward earlier this month. The company reported earnings per share of 67 cents, eclipsing the average of Wall Street analyst estimates of 64 cents, according to Thomson Financial.

The company reduced its guidance to analysts on July 9, saying weakness in its consumer inkjet business was taking a toll. On Tuesday, the company lowered expectations for its third quarter as well.

Analysts, on average, were expecting Lexmark to report earnings of 15 cents per share for its third quarter, but the company, in a statement, said it would like come in well below that number. The company said it is forecasting earnings per share that will be between zero cents and 10 cents per share for the third quarter, with revenue declining "in the low- to mid-single digit percentage" on a year-over-year basis.

For the quarter, Lexmark reported a three percent increase in revenue in its business segment, compared to an eight percent decline in its consumer segment.