UPDATE 2-Avnet Q3 results miss Street, sees weak Q4 profit

* Q3 adj EPS $0.30 trails est by 1 cent

* Q3 rev $3.7 bln vs. est $3.6 bln

* Sees Q4 profit below expectations

* Top-end of Q4 sales forecast above estimates

* Shares down as much as 7 percent (Adds details, analyst comments, share movement)

By Deepti Govind

BANGALORE, April 23 (Reuters) - Avnet Inc (AVT.N) said lower sales at its electronics marketing division in North America and Europe led to a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit, and the company forecast fourth-quarter earnings below market estimates.

The electronics components and computer products distributor gave a wider range of forecast for the fourth quarter, blaming macroeconomic conditions, and its shares fell as much as 7 percent.

The unprecedented speed with which the technology supply chain reacted to the global demand slowdown suggests that the bottom of the cycle was getting closer, Chief Executive Roy Vallee said in a statement.

"Recovery in demand in North America and Europe is not expected to start until the latter half of 2009," said Longbow Research analyst Shawn Harrison, who has a "neutral" rating on the company's stock.

Avnet added $25 million of annualized expense reductions to its previously announced $200 million restructuring program, which it expected to be completed by the end of September.

"They need to get through the restructuring program which they added onto this quarter to perform better in the future," Harrison said, adding that the program will not be completed till the December quarter.

WEAK RESULTS, FORECAST

The company expects a fourth-quarter profit of 30 cents to 38 cents a share, below analysts' average expectation of 42 cents.

It expects sales of $3.35 billion to $3.95 billion. Analysts on average were expecting $3.71 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

Net income in the third quarter ended March 28 fell to $18 million, or 12 cents a share, from $107.2 million, or 71 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding items, the company earned 30 cents a share, missing market estimates by 1 cent.

Revenue fell 16 percent to $3.70 billion, just shy of market expectations.

Sales in the electronics marketing division, the larger of the two divisions, fell 20.1 percent. Sales from the segment dropped 20.5 percent in the Americas and 24.3 percent in Europe.

Technology solutions sales fell 10.8 percent, but the divisions' sales rose 19.2 percent in Asia.

"The current situation within that business is still challenging, although Asia is performing better than the rest of the world in the components market," Harrison said.

Shares of the company fell $1.05 to $18.22 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange. They touched a low of $17.89 earlier in the day.

For the alerts, double-click here. [ID: WNAB6913] . (Editing by Jarshad Kakkrakandy and Deepak Kannan)