UPDATE 1-Esco Q4 profit falls, sees Q1 below Street; shares fall

* Q4 shr $0.83 vs yr-ago $0.94

* Sees Q1 EPS "generally breakeven"

* Sees 2010 EPS lower than 2009

* Shares fall as much as 14 pct

Nov 12 (Reuters) - Engineered products supplier Esco Technologies Inc (ESE.N) posted a lower quarterly profit, and forecast first-quarter earnings per share to be "generally breakeven," missing analysts' estimates by a wide margin, sending its shares down 14 percent in trading after the bell.

Esco expects customer orders and delivery schedules in the first quarter to be hurt by delays caused by stimulus program funding.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 38 cents a share for the period, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company expects 2010 earnings to be lower, and revenues to fall about 3 percent to 5 percent. [ID:nWNAB5358]

Analysts were expecting earnings of $2.14 a share, on revenue of $666.5 million for fiscal 2010.

Esco said gas advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) product deliveries to PG&E Corp (PCG.N) will be lower in 2010 as the contract is entering the latter stages of its deployment. It expects 2010 PG&E gas product sales to be about $40 million, down from $98 million in 2009.

For the fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, the company posted a profit of $21.8 million, or 83 cents a share, compared with $24.5 million, or 94 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell 12 percent to $169.4 million.

Analysts were expecting a profit of 77 cents a share, on revenue of $176.1 million.

Shares of the company fell 14 percent to $32.00 in post-market trade. They closed at $37.36 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Amulya Nagaraj in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)