(RealTimeTraders.com) - Before the opening bell Friday, Equifax Inc. (EFX), a firm engaged in collecting, organizing and managing various types of credit, financial, demographic and marketing information, announced that its fourth quarter results ending Dec.31, 2003 would be adversely impacted to the extent of $23 million, or $0.17 per share.

The company stated that its fourth quarter earnings would be impacted by a write down of capitalized assets, consolidation expenses and an estimated operating loss from its eMarketing unit, totaling approximately $0.15 per diluted share. The company stated another $0.02 per share accounts for a write-down of capitalized assets tied to other software development investments. All the items proposed to be written down during the fourth quarter are primarily non-cash in nature.

Commenting on the need to write-down these items, Donald Heroman, CFO of the company said, “The deterioration of the market for permission-based eMarketing products, including the recent impact of regulatory uncertainties, has led to this decision.”

On Thursday, the stock closed at $24.55.

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