UPDATE - Oce warns dollar to hurt sales, profit in Q1
Tuesday March 2, 9:30 am ET
(Adds detail on forecast, shares)
AMSTERDAM, March 2 (Reuters) - Dutch printer and copier maker Oce (Amsterdam:OCEN.AS - News) warned on Tuesday its first-quarter turnover and earnings would be lower than a year ago due to the weak dollar.
ADVERTISEMENT
The company said it would sell more machines in its first fiscal quarter, which ended in February, than in the same period one year ago, but the gains would be erased by the strength of the Euro, the currency in which Oce reports.
Oce makes about 40 percent of its sales in the United States.
Oce shares were up 1.15 percent at 14.93 euros at 1414 GMT. They fell as much as 2.6 percent when they resumed trade after a brief suspension by the Euronext Amsterdam exchange. They were up more than two percent before the announcement.
The stock is up 23 percent this year.
In January, Oce reported better than expected full-year results as it began to see some pickup in demand for its machines.
Oce, which competes with Canon (Tokyo:7551.T - News) and Xerox (NYSE:XRX - News), had been hit especially hard as large corporate customers tightened their belts and slashed spending on high-end, high-margin equipment.
The firm said it was seeing a recovery in printing volumes per machine, indicating clients were finally opting for bigger printing units.
The higher number of machines sold in the first quarter "means that the positive trend of the fourth quarter 2003 continued", Oce said in a statement issued after its annual general meeting of shareholders.
It did not give a full-year forecast.
Original Post