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SAN DIEGO — Slumping sales and restructuring costs pushed computer maker Gateway Inc. deep into the red with a loss of $503 million for the first quarter. 

Sales fell 15 percent, but Gateway said with much of the restructuring behind it, the company would return to profitability by the second half of the year. 

“We’re happy with the progress we’re making on our underlying business,” said Joe Burke, the company’s chief financial officer. 

Gateway reported a loss of $1.56 per share on sales of $2.03 billion for the three months ending March 31, compared with profits of $120 million, or 36 cents per share, on sales of $2.4 billion in the year-ago quarter. 

Excluding $533 million in charges for write-down of a consumer loan portfolio and the restructuring costs, the company’s operating loss was only about $6 million, or just over a penny a share, Burke said. 

Gateway had been expected to report a loss of a penny per share, according to an average of forecasts of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call. 

Gateway has struggled in an unfriendly environment for personal computer makers in the United States as the economy cools and PC prices fall amid signs of a saturated market. 

The company sold 1.1 million computers during the three months that ended March 31, down 12 percent from a year ago. 

Gateway announced in January that it would lay off about 3,000 of its 24,000 workers and take a charge of between $150 million and $275 million during the first quarter. The company also closed 27 of its retail outlets, leaving them with 299 stores. 

Burke said no major layoffs or store closings are planned. 

In addition to the layoffs and store closings, a major factor in the one-time charges is the company’s decision to discontinue financing to customers with risky credit.  

Gateway took a $100 million charge to write down its loan portfolio. 

Gateway founder Ted Waitt returned to the helm in January after ousting former chief executive officer Jeffrey Weitzen and several other top executives. 

Gateway is hardly alone in its struggle. Hewlett-Packard Co. on Wednesday lowered its earnings forecasts and said it plans to eliminate 3,000 management positions. Compaq Computer Corp. last month announced plans to shed 5,000 jobs. 

Gateway is the nation’s fourth-largest personal computer maker, according to Dataquest. The company had revenue of nearly $10 billion last year. 

Gateway is in a more precarious position than some other computer companies such as IBM because of its heavy reliance on the slowing U.S. consumer market, said research analyst David Bailey of Gerard Klauer Matison & Co. 

“They need to generate demand in a tough economic climate while reducing expenses,” Bailey said. “It’s a difficult task.” 

Shares of Gateway were up 72 cents to $18.02 at 4 p.m. on the New York Stock Exchange, but fell 27 cents in after-hours trading.