Pitney Bowes quarterly profit falls

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pitney Bowes Inc (PBI.N), the biggest U.S. supplier of postage meters and mailing machines, posted a lower quarterly profit on Monday because of weakness in its U.S. and international mailing segments as well as in its management services business.

Its shares fell 12.7 percent to $41 in after-hours trading after closing up 2.15 percent at $46.99 on the New York Stock Exchange.

"Business conditions during the third quarter were much more challenging than we originally anticipated," Chief Executive Murray Martin said in a statement.

The company said third-quarter net income fell 14.1 percent to $127.7 million, or 58 cents a share, from $148.6 million, or 66 cents a share, a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings from continuing operations were 63 cents a share, compared with 66 cents last year, and below the company's guidance of 70 cents to 74 cents a share.

Revenue rose 5 percent to $1.5 billion.

Analysts were expecting profit of 74 cents a share on average, on revenue of $1.55 billion.

Stamford, Connecticut-based Pitney Bowes is seen by some investors as a safe haven from economic fluctuations since about three-fourths of its sales come from repeat customers.

Pitney Bowes forecast fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations and before items in a range of 67 cents to 71 cents a share, and $2.67 to $2.71 per share for the year.

Analysts, on average, are expecting earnings before items of 84 cents a share for the fourth quarter and $2.69 per share for the year, according to Reuters Estimates.

The company forecast revenue growth of 6 percent to 9 percent for the fourth quarter and 6 percent to 8 percent for the year. Analysts are expecting revenue of $1.67 billion for the fourth quarter and $5.73 billion for the year.

(Reporting by Robert MacMillan)