Profit warning hammers Comdial shares

Comdial shares plunged 4, or 43 percent, to a 52-week low of 5 1/4 Monday after warning that it will take a loss of between $1.5 million to $3 million in its second quarter.

First Call Corp. consensus had expected the telecommunications company to post a profit of 27 cents a share in the quarter.

"We are seeing a decline in demand for our communications solutions products in the small to mid-sized business market," said CEO William Mustain in a prepared release.

Last quarter, Comdial earned $923,000, or 10 cents a share, on sales of $34.3 million.

Mustain said the decreased demand was a result of market uncertainty about new technology and a post-Y2K slowdown.

Charlottesville, Va.,-based Comdial also said it expected it quarterly revenues to be between $25 million and $27 million.

Its shares moved up to a 52-week high of 23 1/2 in March after hitting a previous low of 6 1/8 in August.

The lone analyst following the stock maintains a "buy" recommendation.

Before Friday's profit warning, analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.26 a share in the fiscal year.

Comdial competes with the likes of Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LU) and Inter-Tel Inc. (Nasdaq: INTL). >