3Com Earnings Slide

3Com Corp. said its fiscal second-quarter earnings fell slightly and warned that third-quarter profit will be less than expected because customers are delaying purchases over year 2000 concerns, sending its shares down as much as 15% in after-hours trading. The shares had closed up $4.25 at $53.13 on Nasdaq. Separately, 3Com’s chief financial officer since 1985, Chris Paisley, 46, said he plans to retire from the company next summer.

The computer networking company, which is preparing to spin off its Palm Inc. electronic-organizer unit, said profit from operations in the period ended Nov. 26 declined to $130.9 million, or 37 cents a share, from $133.4 million, or 36 cents, a year ago, as revenue declined 4.3% to $1.47 billion. Operating profit was better than the 34 cents analysts expected, according to First Call Corp.

Paisley said sales and profit in the quarter ending in February will be “comparable” to the year-earlier quarter.