Earning Plays

[3xBuBu]

Monday, May 11

MBIA posts hefty profit in first quarter(5:00 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- MBIA Inc. (MBI: news, chart, profile) late Monday reported a first-quarter net income of $701 million, or $3.34 a share, after adjusting for preferred stock dividends of MBIA Insurance Corp. The company saw a net loss of $2.4 billion, or $12.92 a share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue also recovered to $1.9 billion from a loss of $2.9 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to a disclosure submitted by the financial firm. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast a loss of 33 cents a share for the quarter.

Winn-Dixie posts higher profit; outlook raised(4:31 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Supermarket-chain Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. (WINN: news, chart, profile) late Monday reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $16.6 million, or 30 cents a share, up from $15 million, or 28 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Sales were almost unchanged at $1.7 billion. Identical store-sales -- a key barometer of retailer health -- increased 0.2%. Looking ahead, Winn-Dixie raised its fiscal 2009 forecast for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to $145 million to $152 million. Its previous target was $110 million to $125 million. Jacksonville, Fla.-based Winn-Dixie operates 520 retail grocery stores. Its shares closed Monday at $11.47, down 1%.

McDermott profit falls 37% (4:20 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Engineering and construction company McDermott International, Inc. (MDR: news, chart, profile) reported late Monday first-quarter net income fell to $77.7 million, or 33 cents a share, from $123.2 million, or 54 cents, a year ago. Operating revenue, which excludes one-time items, fell to $131.3 million from $157.1 million. Revenue for the quarter rose 3% to $1.49 billion from $1.45 billion. Analysts polled by Factset Research had predicted the Houston-based company would post earnings of 31 cents a share on $1.53 billion in revenue. McDermott shares closed ahead of the report with a 4-cent gain at $18.45.

Fluor profit jumps 50%; outlook cut(4:19 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Engineering and construction giant Fluor Corp. (FLR: news, chart, profile) on Monday reported a first-quarter profit of $205 million, or $1.12 a share, up from $137 million, or 74 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue jumped 21% to $5.8 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet Research were looking for a profit, on average, of 92 cents a share with sales of $5.65 billion. Despite the better-than-expected results, Fluor cut its 2009 earnings outlook to a range of $3.80 to $4.10 a share from $3.90 to $4.20 a share. Wall Street previously forecast an annual profit of $3.77 a share.

Nortel's first-quarter loss widens(9:22 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Nortel Networks Corp. (NRTLQ: news, chart, profile) said Monday that its first-quarter net loss widened to $507 million, or $1.02 a share, from $138 million, or 28 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. The Toronto-based maker of telecommunications equipment said that revenue dropped to $1.73 billion from $2.76 billion.

Priceline earnings per share up 89%(9:00 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Priceline.com Inc. (PCLN: news, chart, profile) said Monday that first-quarter earnings were $25 million, or 53 cents a share, compared to 14 million, or 28 cents, in the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.09 compared to 76 cents. Revenue rose 15% to $462 million. Analysts polled by FactSet Research estimated, on average, sales of $440 million. For the second quarter Priceline sees adjusted earnings per share of $1.65 to $1.75.

Ambac's quarterly loss narrows(8:44 am ET)
BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Ambac Financial Services Group Inc. (ABK: news, chart, profile) on Monday reported a first-quarter loss of $392.2 million, or $1.36 a share, compared with a loss of $1.66 billion, or $11.69 a share, in the same period the prior year. The financial guaranty insurer said it swung to positive revenue of $1.13 billion. "The credit environment remains adverse, although perhaps the rate of degradation is slowing," said David Wallis, chief executive, in Ambac's quarterly earnings release.

Conseco posts proifit versus year-ago loss (8:17 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Conseco Inc. (CNO: news, chart, profile) on Monday said it earned $24.5 million, or 13 cents a share, compared to a loss of $7.2 million, or 4 cents a share a year ago. The company reported revenue of $1.07 billion in the first quarter, versus $1.03 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected the company to earn 20 cents a share in the first quarter.

WellCare posts loss; adjusted net beats estimate(7:27 am ET)
TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- WellCare Health Plans Inc., (WCG: news, chart, profile) the Tampa, Fla., provider of managed-health-care services for government-sponsored programs, swung to a first-quarter net loss from a year-earlier profit on 9.7% higher revenue. The net loss was $36.9 million, or 89 cents a share, compared with net income of $1.3 million, or 3 cents, in the year-earlier quarter. On an adjusted basis, WellCare earned 29 cents a share against 52 cents a year earlier. Revenue reached $1.8 billion from $1.64 billion. A survey of analysts by FactSet Research produced a consensus estimate of profit of 15 cents on revenue of $1.75 billion.

Allied Capital first-quarter loss $1.95 a share (7:22 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Allied Capital Corp. (ALD: news, chart, profile) said Monday that it lost $348 million, or $1.95 a share in the first quarter. In the same period a year ago Allied lost $41 million, or 25 cents a share. Net investment income was $30 million or 16 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet Research estimated, on average, earnings of 14 cents a share.

King Pharmaceuticals swings to loss after charges(7:14 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- King Pharmaceuticals Inc. (KG: news, chart, profile) said Monday that it swung to a first-quarter net loss of $10.7 million, or 4 cents a share, from a profit of $85.6 million, or 35 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter fell around 1% to $429.1 million. The company said that excluding one-time costs, adjusted earnings for the quarter were 26 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting earnings of 13 cents a share. The group said net revenue from branded pharmaceuticals fell 25% to $278 million, primarily due to the market entry of generic substitutes for Altace.

HSBC CEO remains cautious over economy(7:03 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- HSBC Holdings (UK:HSBA: news, chart, profile) (HBC: news, chart, profile) CEO Michael Geoghegan said on a conference call Monday that it is too early to talk about "green shoots" of recovery and that there may be more weakness to come in the economy. Geoghegan said loan demand is relatively weak because of the worsening employment figures, though he added the bank is benefiting as customers swap between banks. U.S. impairment figures were slightly better than expected, but it's too early for the bank to make any change to its impairment assumptions, he added.

PMI Group narrows 1st-quarter net loss(6:35 am ET)
TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- PMI Group Inc., (PMI: news, chart, profile) the Walnut Creek, Calif., provider of mortgage insurance, reported a narrower first-quarter loss. The net loss was $115.3 million, or $1.41 a share, compared with $274 million, or $3.37, in the year-earlier quarter. Continuing operations generated a loss of $1.41 a share compared with $3.77 a year earlier. Net premiums written fell 13% to $184.8 million. Consolidated losses and LAE -- including paid claims, loss-adjustment expenses, and additions to reserve for losses -- fell 31% to $382.9 million. Consolidated reserve for losses and LAE at March 31 was $2.9 billion compared with $2.7 billion at year's end and $1.6 billion at March 31, 2008.

Dish Network profit climbs while subs fall(6:18 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Dish Network Corp. (DISH: news, chart, profile) said first-quarter net income rose 21% to $312.7 million, or 70 cents a share, while revenue rose 2% to $2.9 billion. Dish Network said it lost approximately 94,000 net subscribers during the quarter ended March 31, giving the company approximately 13.584 million subscribers. But the cost to add subscribers dropped by 22%. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 56 cents a share.

HSBC profit climbs after $6.6 bln gain on own debt(4:32 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Banking group HSBC Holdings (UK:HSBA: news, chart, profile) (HBC: news, chart, profile) said Monday that its first-quarter underlying pretax profit was well ahead of the equivalent period a year earlier, driven by $6.6 billion of gains on the fair value of its own issued debt. Excluding those gains, pretax profit declined but was still higher than in the fourth quarter of 2008, the bank said. The global banking and markets division generated record results due to an improved market share and margins in a number of areas. The group said its personal financial services business remained profitable outside the U.S., though profits declined due to lower deposit spreads, reduced fee income and rising loan impairment charges. In the U.S., the HSBC Finance exit portfolio was managed down to $96 billion from $100 billion. Loan impairment charges on the portfolio were $2.4 billion, a decline of $600 million from the final quarter of 2008.

G4S operating profit up 48%(2:44 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. security firm G4S Plc (UK:GFS: news, chart, profile) said Monday that its operating profit in the first three months of 2009 rose 48%, or around 24% excluding the impact of movements in exchange rates. The group said revenue was up 36% overall, and that organic growth in the quarter was around 6%. "Despite the fact that some of our businesses are facing tough market conditions, we have had a strong start to the year. We remain confident that we can deliver a strong performance in 2009 whilst continuing to put in place essential building blocks for future growth," the firm said.

TUI swings to profit, helped by asset sale(2:37 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- German travel company TUI AG (DE:TUI1: news, chart, profile) on Monday said it swung to a first-quarter profit of 415 million euros ($566 million), or 2.18 euros a share, from a loss of 279 million euros, or 0.69 euro a share, in the year-earlier period. The results in the latest quarter were helped by a one-time gain of 990 million euros from the sale of its shipping business. For the year as a whole TUI said it expects to post a substantial improvement in profit, driven by lower expenses and the booking of a gain from the sale of its container-shipping business.

Takeda Pharma annual net income falls 34%(1:11 am ET)
TOKYO (MarketWatch) - Takeda Pharmaceutical (JP:4502: news, chart, profile) (TKPHF: news, chart, profile) reported Monday that its net income for the fiscal year fell 34.1%, though the result was more than the company expected and included an 11% rise in sales. Takeda, Japan's largest pharmaceutical firm, posted a net income of 234.4 billion yen ($2.4 billion) for the fiscal year ended in March 2009, down from net income of 355.5 billion yen reported a year ago. On average, analysts had been looking for a net profit of 206.5 billion yen for the year ended March 31, according to data from FactSet Research. In November, the company said it was expecting to report net income of 195 billion yen for the fiscal year, along with sales of 1.56 trillion yen.

HSBC said to have lost $5 billion in Household(1:03 am ET)
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- HSBC Holdings (UK:HSBA: news, chart, profile) (HK:5: news, chart, profile) is expected Monday to reveal losses at its U.S. subprime lending unit Household of up to $5 billion in the first quarter, amid higher write-downs in its credit-card business and continuing trouble in its mortgage business, according to a report in the U.K.'s Sunday Telegraph. In spite of the loss, the bank will likely indicate its overall operations remain profitable, as revenues from investment banking operations offset rising bad debts in the U.S., U.K. and Europe, the report said, citing unnamed sources.
Friday, May 8

Berkshire reports quarterly net loss of $1.53 bln(5:14 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA: news, chart, profile) (BRKB: news, chart, profile) reported a first-quarter net loss of $1.534 billion, or $990 per class A equivalent share, late Friday. That compares to net income of $940 million, or $607 per class A equivalent share, in the same period a year earlier. The net results are attributable to Berkshire shareholders. The latest result includes investment and derivatives losses of $2,090 per class A equivalent share. Operating earnings, which exclude investment and derivatives gains and losses, came in at $1,100 per class A equivalent share, Berkshire said.

Fannie Mae's quarterly loss widens(9:02 am ET)
BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Fannie Mae (FNM: news, chart, profile) on Friday reported a first-quarter loss of $23.2 billion, or $4.09 a share, compared with a loss of $2.2 billion, or $2.57 a share, in the year-earlier period. The mortgage-finance giant, which has been placed in government conservatorship, said its quarterly loss was driven by $20.9 billion in credit-related expenses, securities impairments of $5.7 billion and fair value losses of $1.5 billion. Fannie said its results were hurt by "persistent deterioration in housing, mortgage, financial and credit markets."

Edison International net income falls 16%(8:48 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Edison International (EIX: news, chart, profile) said Friday first-quarter net income fell to $250 million, or 76 cents a share, from $299 million, or 91 cents a share in the year-ago period. The power generator's core earnings dropped to 79 cents a share from 92 cents a share in the same quarter last year. The Rosemead, Calif. company cited lower earnings at its Edison Mission Group (EMG), which owns a portfolio of wind energy. Analysts expected earnings of 70 cents a share, according to a survey by FactSet Research.

Mirant swings to adjusted profit(7:57 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Mirant Corp. (MIR: news, chart, profile) said Friday that first-quarter earnings from continuing operations were $380 million, or $2.62 a share. In the same period a year ago Mirant's continuing operations loss was $152 million, or 70 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet Research estimated, on average, earnings per share of 55 cents.

El Paso posts loss on $1.3 billion non-cash charge(7:46 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- El Paso Corp. (EP: news, chart, profile) said Friday it lost $978 million, or $1.41 a share in the first quarter, which included $1.3 billion in full-cost ceiling test charges. In the year-ago period, the Houston oil and gas producer earned $200 million, or 29 cents a share. El Paso's adjusted earnings rose to 47 cents a share from 33 cents a share. "The improvement is due to realized gains on oil and natural gas hedges and continued pipeline growth," the company said. Wall Street analysts expected El Paso to earn 27 cents a share, according to a survey by FactSet Research. Revenue for the quarter rose to $1.48 billion from $1.27 billion.

Windstream net income falls 29%(7:18 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Windstream Corp. (WIN: news, chart, profile) said Friday first-quarter net income fell 29% to $88 million, or 20 cents a share, from $123.7 million, or 27 cents a share in the year-ago period. Revenue dropped 6% to $755 million. Excluding one-time items, the Little Rock, Akr. tech firm earned 24 cents a share. Windstream was expected to earn 23 cents a share on revenue of $775 million, according to a survey of analysts by FactSet Research. With tax benefits from the federal stimulus package, Windstream now expects to generate between $705 million and $775 million in free cash flow during 2009, an increase of $20 million from its earlier view.

Huntsman swings to loss(6:59 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Chemicals producer Huntsman Corp. (HUN: news, chart, profile) said Friday that it swung to a net loss of $290 million, or $1.24 a share, from a profit of $7 million, or 3 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter fell by a third to $1.69 billion, reflecting decreased demand across all the group's businesses. The adjusted loss for the quarter was $1.17 a share, which also included tax expenses of 62 cents a share due to the establishment of a tax valuation allowance in the U.K. CEO Peter Huntsman said the firm is ahead of target and schedule to eliminate in excess of $150 million from its cost structure.

AES Corp.'s quarterly net profit off more than 6%(6:48 am ET)
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- AES Corp. (AES: news, chart, profile) reported first-quarter net income of $218 million, or 33 cents a share, down from $233 million, or 34 cents, earned in first three months of 2008. The Arlington, Va.-based power generator and distributor generated quarterly revenue of $3.38 billion, down from the prior year's $4.08 billion. The consensus of three analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had been for AES to earn 26 cents a share. AES called its first-quarter performance "solid" and affirmed its 2009 profit forecast. The company sees full-year earnings from continuing operations in a range of $1.03 to $1.13 a share and has pegged adjusted earnings at 97 cents to $1.07 a share. The FactSet-derived consensus for 2009 profit stands at 99 cents a share.

MDC loss narrows to $40.9 million(6:28 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- House builder MDC Holdings Inc. (MDC: news, chart, profile) said Friday that its first-quarter net loss narrowed to $40.9 million, or 88 cents a share, from $72.8 million, or $1.58 a share, a year earlier. Revenue for the period fell 56% to $175.9 million. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected a loss of 83 cents a share on sales of $137.2 million. MDC said the results included charges of $14.6 million for asset impairments and a $15.3 million increase in its deferred tax valuation allowance. "While declining home prices and historically low interest rates have improved affordability across our markets, we have yet to see a meaningful recovery in sales activity," said CEO Larry Mizel.

Beazer Homes loss narrows to $115 million(6:19 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- House builder Beazer Homes USA Inc. (BZH: news, chart, profile) said Friday that its fiscal second-quarter net loss narrowed to $114.9 million, or $2.97 a share, from $229.9 million, or $5.96 a share, a year earlier. The loss included $60.1 million of pretax charges related to inventory impairments and the abandonment of land option contracts. Revenue for the quarter ended March 31 fell 54% to $188.3 million. Analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting a loss of $1.80 a share in the latest quarter on revenue of $212.2 million. Home closings were down 39% at 814 and new orders fell 36% to 1,129. The cancellation rate, however, improved to around 30%, from 46% in the first quarter of this fiscal year and 34% a year earlier.

Calpine back to profit after year-earlier losses(6:13 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Calpine Corp. (CPN: news, chart, profile) said it swung to a $32 million, or 7 cents a share, profit, after losing $214 million in the year-earlier quarter. The year-ago quarter was impacted by the costs of restructuring and emerging from bankruptcy. The company also cited benefits from hedging as well as from the sale of surplus emission allowances in the west, which offset weaker demand and spark spreads in Texas. Revenue fell to $1.68 billion from $1.95 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet had forecast a loss of 10 cents a share. It's sticking to its 2009 adjusted EBITDA guidance of $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion and its 2009 adjusted free cash flow guidance of $400 to $500 million.