Ingram Micro Inc., the Santa Ana-based distributor of consumer electronics, technology products and software, warned on Wednesday about slumping sales and softer demand in the current quarter.
Ingram Micro Chief Executive Greg Spierkel said the company “expects 2009 to be even more challenging.”
“Demand continues to soften across most of the countries in which we operate and the stronger dollar is also creating a translation headwind, affecting prior-year sales comparison,” he said.
The company expects first-quarter sales to be off about 20% from last year’s $10 billion in revenue for the same period.
It didn’t give a profit outlook.
Analysts, on average, are expecting first-quarter profits of $46 million on sales of $7.9 billion.
The worse-than-expected outlook comes on the heels of Ingram Micro’s fourth-quarter results, which beat analysts’ expectations for profits but fell short on sales.
For the three months ended Jan. 3, Ingram reported revenue of $8.7 billion, down 13% from a year earlier and just below analysts’ expected $8.9 billion in sales.
Excluding charges for a write-down, taxes, severance pay and other costs, the company posted $96 million in profits, down 5% and beating analysts’ expected $61 million in profits.
Including charges, Ingram Micro would have seen a loss of $564 million.
The results come a day after Ingram said it’s set to cut some 300 jobs, or 8% of its workers in North America.
About half of the jobs are set to be slashed at the company’s offices in Santa Ana and at other sites around the country.
The company announced other measures to be incorporated into its cost-cutting plan, including eliminating positions that currently are open, reducing bonus programs and other sales incentives and lowering company contributions toward retirement savings.
The moves, along with cuts in Europe, are expected to save about $100 million to $120 million a year.
Ingram Micro’s shares were flat in afterhours trading on a recent market value of about $2 billion.
