UPDATE 1-Ultralife Q2 profit trails Wall Street

(Recasts; adds details, share movement)

July 31 (Reuters) - Power technology provider Ultralife Corp (ULBI.O) posted a lower-than-expected quarterly profit as gross margins reduced, but forecast 2008 revenue above market expectations based on current backlog and expected orders from new and existing customers.

For the second quarter, net income was $6.4 million, or 36 cents a share, compared with $1.3 million, or 8 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 149 percent to $87.9 million, driven by deliveries of communications systems orders.

Analysts on average were expecting the company to earn 55 cents a share, before special items, on revenue $81.4 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Gross margin for the second quarter was 23.5 percent, compared with 24.5 percent a year earlier.

The company expects 2008 revenue of about $270 million. Analysts were expecting $251.8 million.

Shares of the company were trading down 4 cents at $11.59 early Thursday morning on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore; Editing by Pratish Narayanan)