Parker 2010 Otlook Below Wall St View

• Q4 shr 31 cts vs 23 cts Wall St view
• Q4 sales $2.2 bln, down 34 pct
• Sees 2010 shr $1.25-$1.75 vs. $2.30 expected

NEW YORK - Parker Hannifin Corp (PH.N), reported an 80 percent drop in quarterly profit on Thursday, but still topped the Wall Street view, and set an initial 2010 profit target far below estimates.

The maker of motion control technology for manufacturing and aerospace markets said net earnings tumbled to $49.5 million, or 31 cents per share, in its fourth quarter ended June 30, from $252.6 million, or $1.47 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, expected profit of 23 cents per share. Revenue was down 34 percent to $2.2 billion, compared with the Wall Street estimate of $2.16 billion.

Parker's industrial international segment posted the steepest sales drop, 43 percent, and was the only division to report an operating loss.

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International job cuts take longer to implement, Parker noted. The segment, the company's biggest by revenue, also reported the deepest decline in quarterly orders.
 

Cleveland-based Parker said it expected 2010 earnings per share in a range of $1.25 to $1.75 from continuing operations. Analysts had looked for profit of $2.30 per share for the year, according to Reuters Estimates.

"We anticipate that conditions will not improve appreciably in our markets for the balance of this calendar year," Parker Chief Executive Don Washkewicz said in a statement. (Reporting by Nick Zieminski; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)