NutriSystem offers 2Q profit guidance

Weight loss company NutriSystem Inc. offered profit guidance today for its fiscal second quarter and said it will incur charges related to cost-reduction efforts and an abandoned investment.

The Horsham-based company said it expects profit of 26 cents to 30 cents a share, including charges.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect profit of 44 cents a share, on average. Analyst estimates typically exclude charges.

The company said it will incur charges of about $1 million pretax in relation to layoffs and other cost-cutting objectives. The cost cuts are expected to lower pretax expenses by $5 million to $8 million in 2009.

NutriSystem said it is also abandoning an investment in ZeroWater, a brand of water filters. That move will require the company to take a charge of $3.6 million pretax in the second quarter to write off its remaining investment.

The company also said it has seen lower consumer spending in the first half of the year.

Shares of NutriSystem fell 1.62, or 10.42 percent, to $13.93 in late morning trading.