Charges, weak demand hurt Acco's 3Q results

LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. - Office-products maker Acco Brands Corp. said Wednesday it swung to a third-quarter loss, hurt by restructuring and impairment charges and lower demand for products amid a weak economic environment.

The company's quarterly loss totaled $32.7 million, or 60 cents per share, compared with a profit of $8.7 million, or 16 cents per share last year. Excluding restructuring charges, other costs and a goodwill and asset impairment charge at its commercial laminating business, the company had a profit of 23 cents per share.

Revenue fell 12 percent to $435 million from $494.7 million a year ago.

The company said softness in the office-product category and weak economic conditions hurt sales.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, predicted profit of 31 cents per share on revenue of $467.2 million.

Acco said weak consumer spending has spread to international markets and customer consolidation is hurting results as well. Fourth-quarter results will reflect peak pricing for raw materials, Acco said.

The company said it did not give earnings or sales guidance for the rest of 2008, or 2009 due to difficulty in forecasting in the current demand environment.

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