He said he expected "a very strong second quarter and positive comments on the third quarter."

On the basis of the Christmas season and earlier months' business, he said, "We continue to expect a good fourth quarter."

Unisys has been warning analysts since October that it expected a weak first quarter.

"We're actually expecting a pretty strong quarter right now," he said.

"And since everybody was expecting a really poor third quarter, a little bad news amounts to good news."

The company reported a 57 percent rise in third-quarter profits from the 1987 period and is expecting a good fourth quarter.

"We expected a good quarter," he said, "and it turned out to be exceptional."

Analysts had expected a lackluster quarter, but few expected actual red ink.

Now the company expects 320,000 customers by next March - a quarter of its original projection.

Ford also expects a weak first quarter that will be far short of Wall Street's expectations.