Earning Plays

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Monday, March 23
Phillips-Van Heusen swings to quarterly loss (5:22 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. (PVH: news, chart, profile) late Monday reported it swung to a net loss of $37.9 million, or 74 cents a share, from a net income of $30.3 million, or 55 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding restructuring items, the company would have earned 30 cents a share. Revenue decreased to $577.8 million from $584.5 million in the year-ago period, the clothing manufacturer said. Analysts polled by FactSet Research had forecast earnings of 28 cents a share on revenue of $581.7 million. Phillips-Van Heusen expects first-quarter earnings of 33 cents to 43 cents a share on revenue of $530 million to $540 million. Wall Street is projecting the company to post earnings of 59 cents a share and revenue of $567 million in the first quarter. For 2009, the company sees earnings of $1.88 to $2.18 a share while revenue is expected to fall 7% to 8% from 2008.
Sonic second-quarter net income slides fractionally(4:11 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Drive-in restaurant chain Sonic Corp. (SONC: news, chart, profile) late Monday reported its second-quarter net income fell to $8.7 million, or 14 cents a share, from $9.3 million, or 15 cents, a year ago. The quarterly result from this year included an after tax 6-cent-a-share gain from early repayment of debt. Revenue decreased to $169 million from $174.6 million a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had forecast earnings of 9 cents a share on revenue of $171.9 million.
China Overseas Land & Investment 2008 net income up 21%(5:00 am ET)
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- China Overseas Land & Investment (HK:688: news, chart, profile) said Monday net income for 2008 totaled HK$5.1 billion ($658.02 million), an increase of 21% from HK$4.18 billion in the prior year. The company said about HK$1.07 billion of the net income figure was related to the revaluation of investment properties. Sales of properties in China totaled HK$25.90 billion, up 19% from a year earlier, while sales by area totaled 2.7 million square meters, up 25% on year. The company proposed a final dividend of 7 Hong Kong cents per share, bringing totaled dividends for the year to 13 Hong Kong cents per share.
Daily Mail advertising revenue down, more job cuts planned(3:37 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. newspaper publisher Daily Mail & General Trust (UK:DMGT: news, chart, profile) said Monday that its U.K. and European consumer media divisions are having a difficult quarter as advertising revenue falls, while performance at its business to business arms has remained broadly steady. The group said it still expects results for the fiscal year to be in line with the market consensus, but that there is little visibility on the advertising revenue from Associated Newspapers and the first-half results will be substantially lower. The group said quarterly advertising revenue from its Associated Newspaper unit is expected to be down around 24% on an underlying basis and at Northcliffe Media the fall is around 37%. The group said further cost cutting is planned, including around 1,000 job cuts at Northcliffe -- double the level previously expected. The group also said it will exceed its previously announced cost-savings target of 100 million pounds ($145 million).
Friday, March 20
Citigroup's Pandit criticizes bonus tax legislation(4:34 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Citigroup Inc. (C: news, chart, profile) Chief Executive Vikram Pandit on Friday criticized legislation that would tax bonuses at many financial companies heavily. "The work we have all done to try to stabilize the financial system and to get this economy moving again would be significantly set back if we lose our talented people because Congress imposes a special tax on financial services employees," Pandit wrote in a memo to employees on Friday. "It would affect countless number of people who will find it difficult, if not impossible, to pay back the bonuses that they earned." The House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday that would impose a 90% tax on bonuses given to employees who earn more than $250,000 a year at companies that have received at least $5 billion from the government's Trouble Asset Relief Program.