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To: MBogdaniec who wrote (3332)	1/13/1998 10:13:00 PM
From: van wang	Respond to of 4429

opic: (NYSE:MOT) Motorola Inc, Quote.com News Item #5066534 Headline: Motorola sees Asia pressures continuing in 1998 ====================================================================== By Susan Nadeau CHICAGO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT) Tuesday warned of continued pressure from the economic turmoil in Asia, after reporting slightly lower than expected fourth quarter earnings Monday, but analysts said Wall Street was relieved the technology giant's outlook was not worse. Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola also forecast slower growth in certain Asian markets, yet said the long-term picture remains solid. Motorola said the weakening Asian conditions hurt its key cellular infrastructure group, pushing the company to cut its growth expectations for Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, Singapore and the Philippines. But analysts said the fact that they are currently not reducing estimates for Japan and China is encouraging. "We knew the Japanese have the financial resources, and Motorola seems to be optimistic about China as well," Gruntal & Co. analyst Mona Eraiba said. Motorola stock was $1.065 lower at $55.8125 on the New York York Stock Exchange in afternoon trading, after hitting a high for the day of $56.3125 in early trade. Motorola said that through November 1997, Asia accounted for about 28 percent of Motorola's revenues. China contributed 12 percent, Japan 5 percent and the rest of the region 11 percent. In a conference call, Motorola reiterated it expects first and second quarter revenues to grow by about 10 percent, less than the 15 percent Wall Street had previously expected for the first quarter, blaming the economic turmoil in Asia. Various firms trimmed ratings on Motorola and reduced 1998 earnings estimates. In addition, new digital wireless phones are scheduled to be released in the first quarter after initial delays, which analysts said should help the other portion of the cellular products group. In its other key business, Motorola said it expected the worldwide semiconductor industry to grow by 13 to 15 percent in 1998, rather than the 15 to 17 percent previously forecast. The company said the reduction is solely due to Asia, including theresulting pricing pressures. "I was worried they were going to rein that in even more," said Todd Koffman, an analyst with Lehman Bros. "(T)hey still feel pretty comfortable the semiconductor industry is going to show pretty strong growth." According to Dataquest's preliminary data released last week, chip industry revenues rose 5.5 percent in 1997, reaching $150 billion. Analysts also said they were encouraged to hear the U.S. paging market appears to have bottomed out. That may offset continued pressure from China, the other key paging market that has suffered pricing cuts and weak demand. A bright spot in fourth quarter earnings was the Land Mobile Products Sector, which includes two-way radios, where both sales and orders jumped. "You're not terribly inspired by the outlook over the next three to six months," Koffman said. "But I think the message is they're doing ok." Late Monday, Motorola reported fourth quarter net income of $321 million, or 53 cents a share, up from $238 million or 39 cents a share the previous year. Excluding special charges, earnings were 65 cents a share, slightly lower than Wall Street expectations of 68 cents a share. Fourth quarter sales were $8.3 billion, up 8 percent from $7.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 1996. For the year, sales rose 7 percent to $29.8 billion from $28 billion. Earnings were $1.18 billion, or $1.94 a share, up from $1.15 billion, or $1.90 a share, a year ago. chicago.equities.newsroom@reuters.com) Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service