More Evidence of CRE slowdown

The slowdown in Commercial Real Estate has started to show up in corporate earnings, from Forbes:

Weak Construction Blasts NCI

The weak housing market has taken a heavy toll on builders and their suppliers. NCI Building Systems' quarterly earnings showed that the non-residential building market is now causing problems too.

Shares of NCI Building Systems (NCS) fell $7.18, or 20.1%, to $28.60, after the company reported its fourth-quarter profits fell to $25.4 million, or $1.27 per share, from $28.0 million, or $1.33 per share, a year ago. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a profit of $1.59 per share.

NCI (nasdaq: NCIT - news - people ), which is headquartered in Houston, makes metal building materials used in non-residential construction. Its products include roofs and roll-up doors.

A slowdown in non-residential construction pressured NCI's fourth-quarter results. According to McGraw Hill, low-rise nonresidential construction fell by 4.4% during NCI's fiscal 2007. It gained 5.7% during the previous year.