Green Mountain sales miss, lowers 2012 view

(Reuters) - Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc (GMCR.O) reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales and cut its full-year outlook for the second time.

The company, known for its Keurig coffee brewers and K-cup single-serve coffee portions, post net income of $73.3 million, or 46 cents per share, in its fiscal third quarter, ended June 23, up from $56.3 million, or 37 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, Green Mountain earned 52 cents per share. On that basis, analysts on average were expecting 50 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net sales rose to $869.2 million, missing analysts' average estimate of $873.3 million.

For fiscal 2012, the company said it now expects earnings of $2.21 to $2.26 per share, down from its prior estimate of $2.40 to $2.50 per share.

It expects net sales of $3.79 billion to $3.84 billion, or growth of 43 percent to 45 percent.

(Reporting By Martinne Geller in New York)