Avery Dennison Corp. on Friday said its fourth-quarter profit grew from last year, helped by a marginal increase in revenues and tax benefit. But the result was still below Wall Street expectations, and shares dropped 12 percent.

The Pasadena maker of office supplies said its fourth-quarter net income increased to $49.9 million (47 cents), compared with $42.6 million (43 cents) a year earlier. Net sales rose 0.66 percent to $1.52 billion.

Adjusted net income was $46.8 million (44 cents). Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected adjusted per-share net income of 68 cents on revenue of $1.51 billion.

Sales of labels and other pressure-sensitive materials rose 5 percent, but office and consumer products sales fell 9 percent and retail information services revenue dropped 2 percent.

“While end markets remain soft, fourth-quarter sales reflect stabilizing inventory levels, resulting in solid improvement compared to the first half of the year,” said Chief Executive Dean A. Scarborough in a press release.

Shares closed down $5.59, or nearly 15 percent, to $32.51 on the New York Stock Exchange.