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Smith-Gardner stock plunges on projected loss

The software maker will report a second-quarter loss, instead of the profit that Wall Street was expecting.

Software maker Smith-Gardner & Associates said today it will report a second-quarter loss, instead of the profit that Wall Street had anticipated.

By the close of regular trading today, the stock had lost one-third of its value. It was down $2.34 to $4.91. Earlier this year, the stock was trading around $20.

Smith-Gardner, which makes and sells e-commerce software, blames the loss on sliding sales.

The company expects to report a loss per share in the range of 13 cents to 16 cents compared with a profit of 12 cents per share for the second quarter last year.

Financial analysts had been expecting the company to report a profit of 10 cents per share, according to research firm First Call.

In a statement, the company said a number of customers had delayed implementation plans, resulting in a shift of anticipated sales from the second quarter to the third quarter. Smith-Gardner said its customer base has shifted from Internet start-ups to more established companies, which has hurt sales.

For the quarter, the company expects sales to range from $9 million to $11 million, down from $12.3 million in the same quarter a year ago.