Tampa's Sykes Enterprises' first-quarter earnings fall slightly

Sykes Enterprises of Tampa reported slightly lower earnings for the first quarter from a year earlier and cut its revenue forecast for the year because of slower sales of laptop computers and other consumer technology products. Sykes, which provides technical support for other companies, reported earnings of $14.8 million, or 36 cents per share, compared with $15.7 million, or 39 cents a share, for the first quarter of 2008. The company lowered its revenue outlook for all of 2009 to a range of $831 million to $835 million, in part because of the strength of the U.S. dollar.