CSS says it won’t meet earnings guidance

Gift-wrap and greeting-card maker CSS Industries Inc., feeling the sting of sluggish consumer spending, said today that it expects to fall short of its previously announced earnings target for the current fiscal year.

"The deterioration in the retail environment brought on by the general economic downturn has reduced sales of our everyday products and increased order cancellations and returns of Christmas products," the Philadelphia company said.

It had projected earnings for the year, which will end March 31, of $2.40 to $2.55 a share. Last year, it posted earnings of $2.31 a share. The company did not offer a new projection of this year's earnings, citing the rapidly changing national economy and its affect on sales.

CSS products include gift wrap, gift boxes and boxed greeting cards. Its shares were down $1.15 to $17.88 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.