Immucor says second quarter earnings will disappoint

<p>Immucor Inc. warned that its fiscal second quarter earnings will disappoint Wall Street, as declining instrument sales and higher marketing expenses drive down results.</p><p>The company also issued earnings guidance for fiscal 2004 that is well below the current consensus estimate.</p><p>In a press release Tuesday, the maker of blood testing technology said it expects to report second-quarter earnings of about 14 cents a share, or 6 cents below the current Thomson First Call consensus of 20 cents a share.</p><p>The company earned 17 cents a share in the second-quarter of fiscal 2003.</p><p>The latest quarters earnings will include a 3-cent charge, $924,000 pretax, related to debt refinancing, which Immucor said will reduce interest expense by about $250,000 and the amortization of deferred financing costs by about $450,000 per year.</p><p>Second-quarter revenue will be about $27.2 million, compared with the $23.7 million generated in the quarter ending Nov. 30, 2002.</p><p>Immucor said full-year revenue should be 11 percent to 14 percent higher than fiscal 2003, or about $109 million to $112 million.</p><p>The company had revenue of $98.3 million in fiscal 2003.</p><p>Immucor expects to earn 71 cents to 75 cents a share in fiscal 2004, which is below the current consensus estimate of 83 cents a share.</p><p>Immucor earned 71 cents a share in fiscal 2003.</p>