Blount International fourth-quarter earnings fall 6 percent

Blount International 4Q earns drop 6 percent

PORTLAND, Ore. — Blount International Inc., which makes chains for saws, said Friday that its fourth-quarter earnings fell 6 percent as one-time costs outweighed a gain in sales.

Blount also raised its sales forecasts for 2010.

The company said it earned $6.5 million, or 13 cents per share, down from $6.9 million, or 14 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. The 2009 results include $8.6 million in expenses related to legal settlements, which amounted to a 12-cent-per-share impact.

Sales rose 6 percent, led mostly by international sales, to $141.5 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who typically exclude one-time items, expected Blount to report earning 23 cents per share on sales of $141 million.

The company said it now expects 2010 sales to grow between 6 percent to 10 percent, ranging from $530 million and $550 million. Blount said it expects customers to continue restocking their inventories this year.

For all of 2009, Blount earned $22 million, or 48 cents per share, on revenue of $502 million.

Blount shares rose 21 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $11.50 in late trading.