UPDATE 1-Brush Engineered cuts '08 profit outlook
(Recasts; adds details, share price)
Oct 2 (Reuters) - Brush Engineered Materials Inc (BW.N), a maker of precious and specialty metal products, slashed its 2008 earnings outlook for the second time in as many months, hurt by widespread weakness in its global markets, sending its shares down as much as 10 percent to a two-year low.
The company said it now sees 2008 earnings of $1.15 a share to $1.30 a share, down from its previous estimate of $1.45 a share to $1.70 a share.
Analysts on average were expecting earnings before special items of $1.80 a share for the period, according to Reuters Estimates.
The company said sales were not as strong as expected in its media business as it had to temporarily suspend shipments of a ruthenium-based material to a key customer due to a problem with a raw material supplier.
Brush Engineered said it was also a hurt in the media market as it had to redevelop a product as another key customer for the oxide layer changed specifications.
These factors will lead to lower-than-expected shipments into the media market through the fourth quarter and into the first quarter of 2009.
The company said the latest 2008 forecast includes the effect of previously announced charges taken in the first and second quarter of the year. Excluding the charges, the operating run rate for the full year will be $1.45 a share to $1.60 a share, the company said in a statement.
About a third of the expected decrease is related to the third quarter with the balance expected in the fourth quarter, Brush said.
The Cleveland, Ohio-based company said its third- and fourth-quarter earnings will also be hurt by the recent Hurricane Ike, which temporarily reduced shipments to the oil and gas market and the Boeing strike, which reduced shipments to the commercial aerospace market.
The company's shares were trading down $1.84 at their two-year low of $16.05 early Thursday morning on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Shradhha Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Amitha Rajan)
