Blount shares fall on drop in 4Q net income

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Shares of Blount International Inc. tumbled Thursday after the yard-care equipment maker announced a fourth-quarter profit that fell short of Wall Street predictions.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, the Portland, Ore.-based company earned $9 million, or 18 cents per share, down 5 percent from $9.5 million, or 19 cents per share, in the same quarter the year before.

Analysts, on average, expected profit of 23 cents per share, according to FactSet.

Revenue fell 3 percent to $229.6 million. Sales at the company's forestry, law and garden business were flat at $165.9 million; farm, ranching and agriculture business fell 13 percent to $57.2 million.

For all of 2012, the company earned $39.6 million, or 79 cents per share, down from $49.7 million, or $1.01 per share, in 2011. Revenue rose to $927.6 million from $831.6 million the year before.

Blount said demand from European and North American markets slowed during 2012, partially as a result of economic uncertainty. The company expects a modest increase in overall demand for 2013, projecting revenue of $930 million to $980 million for the year.

In afternoon trading Blount shares fell $1.39, or 8.9 percent, to $14.16, after dropping as low as $13.38 earlier in the day. Over the past 52 weeks, the company's shares have traded between $12.46 and $17.49.