UPDATE 3-Agilent profit misses expectations; more job cuts

* Fiscal Q1 EPS ex-items 20 cents vs Wall St view 28 cents

* Sees fiscal Q2 earnings, revenue in line with Q1

* To close 2 small businesses, restructure, cuts 600 jobs

* Shares flat after hours (Adds cash position, CEO quote)

By Janet Kornblum

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Electronic testing gear maker Agilent Technologies Inc (A.N) reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit with revenue from its semiconductor business showing the sharpest fall, and announced plans to cut 600 jobs.

Chief Executive Bill Sullivan said on Tuesday the global downturn is likely to be the most severe in 70 years, making it difficult to give an outlook for the current quarter.

"Forecasting in the current environment is almost futile, as visibility is virtually nil," Sullivan said in a statement. "Our current best guess is that second-quarter revenues and operating earnings, which are normally seasonally stronger, will be roughly in line with first-quarter results."

Agilent said net profit was $64 million, or 18 cents per share, for its fiscal first quarter ended Jan. 31, compared with $120 million, or 31 cents, in the year-ago period.

Excluding special items such as restructuring and asset impairment charges, profit was 20 cents a share, far below the average Wall Street forecast of 28 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue was $1.17 billion, down 16 percent from last year, missing the Santa Clara, California-based company's own forecast.

In December, Agilent, which specializes in electronic and bio-analytic measurement, had lowered its first-quarter revenue outlook to a range of $1.25 billion to $1.30 billion, from $1.34 billion to $1.39 billion. It had also cut its forecast for earnings per share, excluding special items, to 28 cents to 32 cents, from 34 cents to 38 cents.

Agilent said on Tuesday that revenues were down across the globe, with the Americas off 10 percent, Europe off 21 percent, and Asia down 18 percent. By segment, semiconductor and board test was the hardest hit, off 49 percent from last year, while electronic measurement was down 23 percent.

The company, which was spun off from Hewlett-Packard in 1999, said in December that it planned to lay off 300 temporary workers and 500 regular employees.

In addition, it said on Tuesday that it would immediately shut two small semiconductor board-inspection businesses and begin a restructuring of its global infrastructure operations.

The moves would result in about 600 headcount reductions and cost $100 million, and when fully implemented cut operating costs by $150 million.

Nevertheless, Agilent still ended the quarter with $852 million in cash. The company will continue to look for acquisition targets, Sullivan said, but it might be hard to acquire companies in this market.

Despite the rough quarter, Sullivan insisted Agilent is in position to weather the storm.

"We will continue to be the number one measurement company in the world and have the means to invest in the future," Sullivan said. "We will manage through this downturn, just as we've done in the past. It's kind of ironic that this is the tenth anniversary of Agilent and the 70th anniversary of our beginnings. We know how to manage through these downturns."

Agilent shares were down 7.4 percent to $16.34 in after-hours trading from their close of $17.65 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Janet Kornblum; editing by Richard Chang and Andre Grenon)