UPDATE 2-International Game Technology profit falls 47 pct

(Adds company, analyst comments, byline, updates stock price)

By Deena Beasley

LOS ANGELES, April 17 (Reuters) - International Game Technology (IGT.N) said on Thursday quarterly profit fell 47 percent as a slower U.S. economy resulted in less slot machine play and it recorded charges for obsolescence and bad debt.

The slot machine maker also said earnings for the next four quarters would fall short of Wall Street estimates.

Its shares were off more than 5 percent in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Net profit in its second quarter ended March 31 fell to $68.4 million, or 22 cents per share, from $128.2 million, or 38 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

IGT said one-time charges for the quarter totaled $20 million, or 6 cents a share. But even without those charges, earnings fell short of the 34 cents a share expected by analysts, as compiled by Reuters Estimates.

"IGT's fiscal second-quarter results came in below already lowered expectations," Goldman Sachs analyst Steven Kent said in a research note.

He said lower product sales combined with lower levels of slot machine play and higher costs as well as a higher tax rate caused the earnings miss.

Revenue for the quarter fell to $573.2 million from $609.7 million a year earlier.

"The weak domestic environment during the quarter and increased costs of future jackpot liabilities drove some of the downside, although weakness was broad across the business," Oppenheimer analyst David Katz said in a research note.

Chief Executive T.J. Matthews said IGT continues to expect a quarterly profit of 35 to 40 cents a share for the remaining quarters of fiscal 2008 as well as the first half of fiscal 2009. He said profit in the second half of the current fiscal year could slightly exceed that range.

"We expect an uptick in the business as new and expansion opportunities open and we release new cabinets and game titles," the CEO said.

Analysts on average have forecast that the company would earn 41 cents a share for its third quarter ending in June, 45 cents a share for the fourth quarter ending in September and 43 cents a share in each of the following two quarters, according to Reuters Estimates.

IGT shares traded down $2.01, or 5.3 percent, at $36. The stock has fallen about 28 percent since late February amid concerns a weakening U.S. economy would hurt revenue from gambling operations. (Reporting by Deena Beasley and Bill Rigby, editing by Mark Porter)