Shares of Epicor Software Corp., an Irvine-based maker of business software for hotels, retailers and manufacturers, fell after the company lowered its outlook for the current quarter.
Investors sent shares down more than 5% in afterhours trading on a recent market value of about $380 million.
Epicor said it’s expecting profits, excluding charges, of $11 million to $17 million, just shy of Wall Street’s expected $18 million in profits.
The company said it’s looking for fourth-quarter revenue of $125 million to $140 million, below analysts’ expected $149 million in sales.
The less-confident outlook comes on the heels of Epicor’s third-quarter results, which were roughly in-line with expectations.
Including costs for stock compensation, restructuring, write-downs on assets and other charges, the company saw profits of $4 million, down 50% from a year earlier.
Excluding the charges, Epicor posted $11 million in profits, down 15% from the same period a year earlier and in line with analysts’ expectations.
Epicor reported revenue of $136 million, up 32% from the same period a year earlier and beating analysts’ expected $134 million in sales.
The company said it saw delays in a number of licensing deals “due to unprecedented economic turmoil,” Chief Executive Tom Kelly said.
The lost sales were recouped by the addition of new customers and careful managing of the company’s expenses, he said.
On Wednesday, Epicor’s board of directors rejected for the second time a hostile buyout bid by New York hedge fund Elliott Associates LP.
On Oct. 1 Elliott sent an unsolicited letter to Epicor’s board that said it was prepared to pay $9.50 a share for Epicor, 20% more than what the company’s stock was trading at before the offer.
Elliott owns 10.2% of Epicor, making its offer for the rest of the company’s shares worth about $510 million. It also owns $28.7 million in debt that converts to Epicor stock.
The ball is now in Elliott’s court after it said it planned to take its offer directly to shareholders in a bid to get around the board.
