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UPDATE 1-Airgas Q4 earnings fall, sees lower Q1

Tue May 5, 2009 4:37pm EDT

Stocks

   

* Q4 EPS $0.68 vs. estimate of $0.65

* Sales down 9 percent

* Sees Q1 shr $0.62 to $0.67 vs. estimate of $0.70

* Shares flat after closing down 1 pct

NEW YORK, May 5 (Reuters) - Airgas Inc (ARG.N), a distributor of medical and specialty gases, posted lower fourth-quarter earnings, hurt by lower demand, and it forecast first-quarter earnings below expectations.

"Most of our customer segments were under significant pressure this quarter, with manufacturing suffering the deepest declines," CEO Peter McCausland said in a statement.

Net income for the quarter fell to $56.5 million, or 68 cents a share, from $64.2 million, or 76 cents per share, a year earlier. Net sales fell 9 percent to $992.1 million.

Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 65 cents per share on revenue of $1.02 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

Airgas forecast first-quarter earnings of 62 cents to 67 cents per share. Analysts had expected 70 cents.

Shares of the company closed down 1 percent at $43.72 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Hezron Selvi, editing by Ted Kerr)



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