Brunswick Corporation fired off a warning flare this week, letting The Street know that it expects to miss its previously issued full-year guidance. The company said that 2006 earnings from continuing operations are expected to be in the range of $2.40 to $2.55 per diluted share, compared with its previous estimate of $3.00 and $3.15 per diluted share, and down from last year’s $3.13 per diluted share. For the full year, organic sales are now expected to be down 1% to 2%, due to weakness in the Marine segment offset by growth in Fitness and Bowling & Billiards.

Still, the company expects to report earnings from continuing operations in the range of 93 cents to 94 cents per diluted share for the second quarter of 2006, in the middle of the company’s previously announced estimate of 90 cents to 97 cents. This estimate excludes tax-related benefits expected to be reported in the quarter. The company expects to report Q2 sales to be up one percent to approximately $1.55 billion. Excluding acquisitions, sales are estimated to have declined about four percent.

In a conference call discussing the expected disappointments, management said that the Fitness and Bowling & Billiards divisions “continue to perform well” and are “expected to remain steady,” meaning that “operating earnings absent of any one-time effects are not going to see a decline.”

The culprit in the less-than-spectacular results is the Marine division, which has seen a tough time at retail with unit sales down in the double-digits. Management said they were expecting flat to low-single digit declines in the marine sector, but now see a market that is approaching double-digit declines in the last three months.