New York, January 26 (FinanceEnquiry.com) - Following a drop in consumer buying of personal computers and consequent lowering of demand of programs for repelling malware attacks, Symantec Corp (NASDAQ: SYMC) toned down its sales and profit forecast even below what analysts had forecast. Symantec forecast that its profit, apart from certain items, would be 41 cents to 42 cents a share in the fiscal fourth quarter.

Symantec also forecast that it expects its sales in the current period to go up to $1.72 billion to $1.73 billion, falling short of analysts’ average estimates of 43 cents in profit and sales of $1.75 billion. Symantec approved $1 billion in share repurchases. The negative sentiment was the result of sluggish demand for personal computers bringing down the sales of Symantec’s products and Europe’s continued economic downturn restricting spending by companies on information technology.

In the fourth quarter, the company’s net income nearly doubled to $240 million, or 32 cents a share, from $132 million, or 17 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 6.9 percent to $1.72 billion. Sale of antivirus software to customers went down. Its consumer division revenue went up 5 percent, down from 11 percent in each of the two previous quarters.

The company said that PC shipments are not likely to turn around until the new Windows 8 operating system is introduced by Microsoft, which might happen this year. After the release of results, there was little change in shares. After declining 4.2 percent in the past 12 months, Symantec stock rose 1.2 percent to $17.07 at the close in New York.