Schneider Electric: 1Q Revenue Down 11.3%; Outlook More Cautious

23.04.2009
PARIS -(Dow Jones)- French electrical equipment maker Schneider Electric SA (SU.FR) said Thursday its first-quarter revenue fell 11.3% and shifted its organic revenue guidance to the bottom of the range it gave previously.

PARIS -(Dow Jones)- French electrical equipment maker Schneider Electric SA (SU.FR) said Thursday its first-quarter revenue fell 11.3% and shifted its organic revenue guidance to the bottom of the range it gave previously.

Revenue in the first quarter totaled EUR3.82 billion, falling short of an average forecast of EUR4.20 billion of four analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires and FactSet. The company did not give year-ago figures.

Schneider said organic revenue fell 15.9% in the first quarter. In February, Schneider had said it expected an organic sales decline for the full year of between 5% and 15%.

"Considering the business trends observed since the beginning of the year, it now believes that a 15% decline has today become more and more probable," the company said.

"The performance of the first quarter reflects deteriorated world economic conditions and high base of comparison. For the same reasons, we expect the second quarter to continue to be challenging," Chief Executive Jean-Pascal Tricoire said.

Schneider also said it aims to deliver in 2009 an earnings before interest, tax and amortization, or Ebita, margin of 12% before restructuring costs.

Company Web site: www.schneider-electric.com

-By William Horobin, Dow Jones Newswires; william.horobin@dowjones.com

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