Lexmark Profit Misses, Sees Q4 Revenue Down

(Reuters) - Printer maker Lexmark International Inc <LXK.N> posted a lower-than-expected quarterly profit and forecast a drop in fourth-quarter revenue, hurt by a decline in cheaper inkjet printers.

The company, whose shares fell 5 percent in early trading, forecasted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.15 to $1.25 per share, with revenue falling 4 percent to 6 percent.

Analysts, on average, expect fourth-quarter earnings of $1.13 per share on revenue of $1.03 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Lexmark has been focusing on selling its more expensive laser printers to businesses to counter a decline in sales of low-end inkjet printers to consumers as it phases out that business.

For the third quarter, the company posted net income of $67 million, or 86 cents per share, compared with net income of $72 million, or 90 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding items, the company earned 95 cents per share.

Revenue for the quarter rose to $1.03 billion from $1.02 billion a year ago.

Analysts, on average, expected third-quarter earnings of $1.03 per share on revenue of $1 billion.

Lexmark shares fell 5 percent to $29.72 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. (Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in New York and Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Derek Caney)