SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Garmin Ltd. shares fell as much as 19% Wednesday after the maker of GPS navigational devices delivered mixed second-quarter financial results and said it would delay the release of one of its most anticipated new products until 2009.

Garmin's shares fell to a 52-week low of $36.50 after the company reported earnings of $256.1 million, or $1.19 a share, for the second quarter ended June 28, up from $214.4 million, or 98 cents a share, earned in the same period a year ago.

The company said sales rose to $912 million, from last year's revenue of $742 million, but fell short of analysts' estimates of $956 million in sales.

Excluding the effects of foreign currency exchanges and a gain from its tender offer for digital mapping company Tele Atlas, Garmin would have earned 93 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had forecast the company to earn $1.01 a share.

Garmin said its sales were hampered by increases in competition and a decline in consumer spending.

Adding to Garmin's woes was disappointment over the delay for the touch-screen nuvifone, which combines GPS technology and Internet access with the capabilities of a mobile phone. Garmin had planned to launch the nuvifone in the fourth quarter but pushed it back until the first half of 2009. "Meeting some of the carrier-specific requirements will take longer than anticipated," the company said in a statement.

Garmin also cut its full-year outlook, saying it now expects to earn $4.13 a share on $3.9 billion in sales, having previously forecast a profit of $4.40 a share on revenue of $4.5 billion.

  (END) Dow Jones Newswires
  07-30-08 1421ET
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