Brush Engineered Materials Inc., which supplies materials for electronics manufacturing, said Thursday its first-quarter profit tumbled 80 percent on softer demand for the company's products, especially in the media market, and several one-time charges.

The news sent the company's shares down $1.41, or 4.6 percent, to $29.02 in late morning trading.

For the quarter ended March 28, Brush Materials earned $4.6 million, or 22 cents per share, compared with $23.1 million, or $1.12 per share, for the same quarter in 2007.

The recent quarter's results included an accounts receivable correction related to the prior year, a change in a deferred tax asset valuation and nonrecurring purchase accounting costs that reduced the company's earnings by 13 cents per share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a profit of 34 cents per share. Analyst estimates typically do not include one-time items.

Net sales fell 9.6 percent, to $226.3 million from $250.3 million in the year-ago period, mainly as a result of lower sales of ruthenium-based materials for the media market, Brush said. The metal is used in the production of data storage discs for the video game, music and motion picture industries.

In addition, the company's sales were hurt by program delays at its beryllium and beryllium composites segment and lower shipments of cell phone handset materials to a specific customer, Brush said. – AP