Whirlpool Q3 earnings fall, lifts 2010 guidance

MICHIGAN: Whirlpool Corp's third-quarter net income dropped 9 per cent, stung by a subsidiary's antitrust plea agreements.

The world's biggest appliance maker also raised its full-year adjusted earnings outlook again.

Earnings fell to $79 million, or $1.02 per share. A year earlier, net income was $87 million, or $1.15 per share.

Adjusted earnings were $2.22 per share. Revenue rose 0.4 per cent to $4.52 billion even as sales fell in North America and Europe.

Analysts forecast earnings of $1.76 per share on revenue of $4.49 billion.

Whirlpool, based in Benton Harbor, Michigan, now expects 2010 adjusted earnings between $9.56 and $10.06 per share. It previously lifted its guidance to a range of $9 to $9.50 in July.