Motorola (NYSE: MOT) warned investors two weeks ago earnings might look ugly. Pointing to a drop in sales in its mobile devices unit, Motorola said Friday its 4Q profits fell 48 percent. Net profit for the last three months of 2006 was $624 million, or 25 cents per share, down from $1.2 billion, or 46 cents per share, a year earlier. Results included a net gain of 5 cents per share for various charges. Excluding those items, Motorola said earnings from continuing operations were 21 cents a share, or better than the 13 cents to 16 cents it forecast two weeks ago.
-- Operating earnings from the mobile devices division, the company’s largest business, fell 49 percent to $341 million despite a 19 percent increase in sales to $7.8 billion
--Revenue was $11.8 billion, up 17 percent from $10 billion and slightly above Wall Street’s $11.7 billion estimate.
--Sales are expected to fall between $10.4 billion and $10.6 billion in the first quarter, in line with analysts’ forecast of $11.5 billion. The company has scheduled an analysts meeting later Friday in New York, during which executives would discuss the company’s plans to improve operating profitability.
--For the full year, net earnings were $3.67 billion, or $1.46 per share, down 20 percent from $4.58 billion, or $1.81 per share, in 2005. Sales rose 22 percent to $42.9 billion from $35.3 billion.
Update: The company also announced it will cut 3,500 jobs out of its 67,000-member workforce by mid-2007, saying the move will save about $400 million over two years. Earnings Release | Webcast.