ATLANTA - Weak financial results in July and August have left energy trader Mirant Corp. below its targets for achieving 2002 profits of $1.60 to $1.70 per share, chief executive Marce Fuller said Tuesday. <br>
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Poor market conditions have hampered Mirant's ability to leverage its generation and trading assets, she said. The company is about 20 cents a share below its internal estimates. <br>
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The company declined to lower its full-year targets in its second-quarter conference call in July. Mirant saw some recovery in late August, Fuller said at an investors conference in New York. <br>
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''I am hopeful that we can make some of this up, but at this time we are behind where we expected to be,'' she said. <br>
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Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call expected the company to earn $1.54 per share this year. <br>
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Mirant shares fell 30 cents, or 7.9 percent, to close at $3.48 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares gained 4 cents in after-hours trading. <br>
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