Estee Lauder lowers forecast

COSMETICS company Estee Lauder forecast fiscal year earnings below Wall Street’s expectations after turning in a better than expected quarterly profit and its shares fell 6.2%.

Profit in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011, which ended in June, came in just ahead of analysts’ expectations.

The company forecast fiscal year 2012 earnings of $4 to $4.20 per share, excluding items, while analysts were expecting it to earn $4.37 a share.