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To: dude, man who wrote (57987)	2/23/1999 10:13:00 PM
From: kendall harmon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 119973

SVE reuters story after the close: NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Shares of heating and air conditioning company Service Experts Inc. (NYSE:SVE - news) dropped 30 percent on Tuesday after it said warm winter weather and other factors would cool its 1999 earnings. The Nashville, Tenn.-based company joins a list of other firms, dominated by gas and electric utilities and including food maker Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE:CPB - news), to see earnings fall due to the mild winter. Service Experts now expects to earn between $1.65 to $1.70 per share in 1999, missing the $1.77 per share that Wall Street analysts had expected, according to First Call. That contrasts to the positive 1998 earnings reported on Tuesday by Service Experts, which services and replaces residential heating and cooling systems. Fourth quarter earnings met Wall Street expectations, rising to $5.4 million or 31 cents per share before one-time pooling-of-interest charges in 1998. That was up from $3.9 million or 24 cents per share in the prior year's fourth quarter. The stock closed down $5.81 at $13.88 on the New York Stock Exchange, where it was the second biggest loser. The stock had been declining steadily since Jan. 4 when it was at $29.50. More than 1.5 million shares traded, compared to its average daily volume of 48,000 shares. The stock hit its lowest level in at least two years at $13.25, versus its 52-week high of $38 touched last July. Alan Sielbeck, chief executive officer of Service Experts, told Reuters the drop in the stock was an ''unwarranted emotional reaction.'' He said Service Experts, which has acquired dozens of smaller companies in the three years it has been publicly traded, will this year pump an additional $2.5 million into national brand development. That cost will cover training and other items to bring all the acquired companies up to the same quality level, he said. The company wants to be able to offer equally high service at all its outlets before starting a national marketing campaign. Service Experts had hoped those costs would be offset by new revenues, but determined that is unlikely due to warm winter weather so far this year, Sielbeck said. The company, which operates in 34 states, derives 45 percent of its annual revenues from heating and 55 percent from air conditioning. With $500 million in revenues, it is the leading company in the estimated $24 billion heating and cooling market, Sielbeck said, putting Sears (NYSE:S - news) as its nearest competitor. Looking toward the first quarter, Service Experts said it sees earnings slightly ahead of the year ago's net income of 19 cents per share, as restated to reflect a subsequent pooling-of-interest transaction. Wall Street had expected 28 cents per share. The company reported that for the year ended Dec. 31, net income before charges was $23.5 million, or $1.38 per share, beating analysts expectations by a cent. This compared with $16 million, or $1.08 per share a year ago.