AppId is over the quota
* Says 2011 core EBIT to be flat vs 2010
* Says services unit performance to miss expectations
* Shares fall some 4 pct (Adds analyst quotes, share reaction)
HELSINKI, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Finnish crane maker Konecranes cut its full-year profit forecast on Monday after reporting a weaker than expected third quarter performance in services.
Shares fell 4.0 percent to 14.69 euros in early trade. The stock has lost about 50 percent since early July.
The company said it now expects its 2011 core operating profit to reach the same level as last year, having previously predicted a rise.
Konecranes said its preliminary third-quarter order intake was about 459 million euros ($619 million), sales were 451 million and operating profit reached 26 million euros.
It also said its service segment profitability will fall short of expectations this year.
"Growth in deliveries has been slower than originally planned, which affects fixed cost absorption in the expanded service network. Growth in capacity utilization within key customer groups has stagnated, affecting spare parts demand and thus our profitability," it said in a statement.
Konecranes invested in growth and hired more services staff in the first half of the year.
"It was surprising that these problems occurred so soon, one could have imagined that 2012 is when slowdown begins to appear," said Ohman analyst Jari Harjunpaa.
Analysts said the markets were interested in hearing what action the firm would take to boost services profitability and what kind of uncertainties it saw.
In 2010 Konecranes reported 115 million euros of operating profit excluding restructuring costs, on sales of 1.5 billion euros.
Konecranes publishes third quarter earnings on October 20. ($1 = 0.741 euros) (Reporting by Terhi Kinnunen and Jussi Rosendahl; Editing by Greg Mahlich and Helen Massy-Beresford)
