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Monday, Dec. 29
Cal-Maine Foods profit down 32%(6:42 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Cal-Maine Foods Inc. (CALM: news, chart, profile) said Monday that its fiscal second-quarter net profit fell 32% to $27.2 million, or $1.14 a share, from $40.2 million, or $1.69 a share, a year earlier. Sales in the quarter ended Nov. 29 rose 6.5% to $238.3 million. The egg supplier said the results reflect good demand for eggs at the retail level, but a declining demand from the food service sector. It added it expects to pay a dividend for the quarter of around 38.2 cents a share.
KBC to take $1.3 billion hit from CDO downgrades(2:37 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- KBC Group (BE:000356573: news, chart, profile) said Monday that write-downs on its portfolio of collateralized debt obligations will knock around 900 million euros ($1.3 billion) off its fourth-quarter net profit. The firm said a downgrade of several CDOs by rating agency Moody's Investor Service led to write-downs of 300 million euros. The remainder of the write-down stems from applying the new rating assumptions to its entire CDO portfolio and from the changing value of guarantees written by bond insurers following the downgrade. KBC said it will publish its fourth quarter results on Feb. 12.