Earning Plays

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Monday, March 9
Eastman Chemical to cut costs by additional $100 million(8:43 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Eastman Chemical Co. (EMN: news, chart, profile) said Monday it's taking actions to further reduce costs by more than $100 million, doubling its expected cost savings for 2009. The actions include reducing its workforce by 200 to 300 employees within the next four to six weeks and cutting base pay for its U.S. workforce by 5%. Eastman also plans to cut capital expenditures for this year to between $300 million and $350 million. For 2009, the Kingsport, Tenn., company said earnings per share will be between $2.00 and $3.00, excluding charges related to the cost-cutting actions, according to Chief Executive and Chairman Brian Ferguson. The cost reductions are seen resulting in a first-quarter pre-tax charge of approximately $30 million.
Total starts up production in Akpo field offshore Nigeria (7:27 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Total SA (TOT: news, chart, profile) said Monday its Total Upstream Nigeria Ltd. (Tupni) unit started up production earlier-than-expected on a major project off the shore of Nigeria. The Akpo Deep Offshore Field is one of the largest deep offshore projects ever undertaken and will be the largest brought on stream in 2009, Total said. The ramp up of production to 175,000 barrels per day of condensate and 320 million standard cubic feet per day is expected to be reached during summer 2009. Total holds a 24% interest alongside partners at the Akpo OML 130 block including partners: Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, South Atlantic Petroleum of Nigeria, CNOOC Ltd. of China (CEO: news, chart, profile) and Petrobras (PBR: news, chart, profile) .
Capital One cuts quarterly dividend 87% to 5 cents a share(7:23 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Capital One Financial Corp. (COF: news, chart, profile) said Monday its board of directors expects to reduce the company's quarterly dividend from 37.5 cents a share to 5 cents a share, beginning in the second quarter of 2009. The next dividend is expected to be declared in April and paid in May, the McLean, Va., financial firm said. The dividend reduction will preserve more than $500 million in capital annually, it said. Capital One Chief Financial Officer Gary Perlin said that the company's pro-forma Tier 1 capital ratio as of Feb. 28 "remained above 11%, more than 500 basis points above the level required for 'well-capitalized' banks."
Cookson profit down 56% after charges(3:40 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. advanced materials firm Cookson Group (UK:CKSN: news, chart, profile) said Monday that its 2008 net profit fell 56% to 46.1 million pounds ($65.1 million) from 105 million pounds due to restructuring and amortization charges. The group said revenue for the period rose 36% to 2.2 billion pounds and trading profit rose 28% to 216.3 million pounds. The group said the results were slightly ahead of the estimates it had published in January. Plans to reduce the cost base by 40 million pounds are continuing and the group said the suspension of its dividend, capital expenditure on expansion and U.K. pension top-up payments will also reduce cash outflow by more than 85 million pounds compared to 2008.
Bovis swings to loss after write-downs(3:27 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. house builder Bovis Homes Group (UK:BVS: news, chart, profile) said Monday that it swung to a 2008 net loss of 59 million pounds ($83.4 million) from a profit of 86.9 million pounds a year earlier. Revenue fell 49% to 282.3 million pounds. The group said the result includes a 93.1 million pound pretax charge, largely on the falling value of some group assets. Excluding these charge, Bovis made a pretax profit of 14.4 million pounds, compared to a profit of 123.6 million pounds a year earlier. Bovis said administrative expenses fell 14% to 42 million pounds and are expected to fall another 40% to 50% in 2009. The group confirmed it won't pay a final dividend for the yea r.
Petrofac profit climbs 40% and dividend climbs 55%(3:25 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Oil services group Petrofac (UK:PFC: news, chart, profile) said its 2008 profit rose 40% to $265 million, with revenue up 36% to $3.33 billion. Its backlog has slipped to $4 billion from $4.4 billion at the end of 2007. For the year its dividend has been raised by 55% to 25.40 cents a share, which it said is an increase to 35% from 30% of profits.
Hiscox profit drops 56% on hurricanes, markets(3:20 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Bermuda-headquartered specialist insurer Hiscox (UK:HSX: news, chart, profile) said its pretax profit for 2008 dropped 56% to 105.2 million pounds ($149 million), with net premiums earned slipping to 953 million pounds from 965.2 million pounds. The company said its performance was "robust" given the financial markets "near-collapse" and the third most expensive hurricanes on record. It said rates in markets are increasing selectively, notably in reinsurance which is a third of its book. It upped its dividend for the year by 6.25% to 12.75 pence a share.
Friday, March 6
Jardine Matheson profit hit by real-estate value losses(8:37 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd. (JMHLY: news, chart, profile) said Friday its profit for 2008 fell 64% to $666 million, but its underlying profit, which excludes property revaluations and other "non-trading items," grew 14% to $822 million. It said the difference in the two figures was due mostly to a fall in the value of its Hongkong Land investment property portfolio. The 177-year-old diversified trading company -- which is based in Hong Kong but lists its shares in London, Singapore and Bermuda -- said diluted earnings per share for the year fell to $1.88, down from $5.03 in 2007, while the annual dividend was raised to 75 cents a share, up from 65 cents. Chairman Henry Keswick said in a statement: "While the prospects for our businesses remain sound in the year ahead, some are facing a greater impact than others from the deteriorating market conditions. The group's strong financial position, however, will stand it in good stead, enabling our businesses to develop even in the difficult times which Asian economies are likely to encounter in 2009."