Ingram Micro 4Q Profit Rises, Sales Up 12 Percent

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - Computer hardware and software distributor Ingram Micro Inc. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter earnings rose slightly as demand for technology products drove sales increases in all the company's major regions.

Ingram Micro forecast a year-over-year rise in first-quarter sales but cautioned that gross margins will decline from the fourth quarter due to seasonal trends and competition. The stock fell 73 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $20.05, in extended trading, having earlier closed up 2 cents at $20.78.

For the fourth quarter, the company reported net income of $115 million, or 71 cents per share, including a gain of 5 cents per share related to the release of funds set aside to cover taxes on software imports into Brazil. That compared with earnings of $107 million, or 64 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, earnings totaled 66 cents per share, up from 61 cents in the prior-year period.

Revenue rose 12 percent to $9.88 billion. Sales grew fastest in Asia, followed by North America, Latin America and the Europe-Middle East-Africa bloc.

Analysts expected earnings of 67 cents per share on revenue of $9.61 billion, according to FactSet.

For all of 2011, Ingram Micro earned $318.1 million on revenue of $34.59 billion, compared with $202.1 million on revenue of $29.52 billion in 2009.