FileNet Warns of Lower 1st-Quarter Earnings

FileNet Corp., a Costa Mesa Internet content management company, said Monday that earnings for the first quarter were less than previously expected and will be lower than the $6.5 million earned in last year’s first three months.

The company said in a press release it expects to report total quarterly revenue of $81 million to $84 million, compared with $92.8 million for the year-earlier period.

Delayed orders from several large customers, FileNet said, affected the company’s ability to close a number of significant deals that it had expected to complete.

In January, the company said it expected to earn $1.25 to $1.32 a share on revenue of $400 million to $450 million this year. Analysts estimate first-quarter earnings of 25 cents a share, according to a Thomson Financial/First Call survey.

As the company revises its operating plan and looks to cut costs, it will provide new earnings estimates because “current market conditions have rendered our previous guidance obsolete,” Lee Roberts, FileNet’s chief executive, said in the press release.

The company is expected to announce specific cost-cutting measures today.

The company’s release came after the stock market closed for the day. FileNet lost 50 cents to close at $15.19 a share on Nasdaq.

Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this report.