Earning Plays

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Wednesday, June 10

Brown-Forman earnings per share fall to 53 cents(8:08 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Brown-Forman Corp. (BFB: news, chart, profile) said Wednesday that fiscal fourth-quarter earnings fell to $80 million, or 53 cents a share, from $99 million, or 65 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Sales were down 12% to $683 million, from $772 million a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet Research estimated, on average, earnings per share of 49 cents and sales of $638 million. For fiscal 2010 the Louisville, Ky. maker of alcoholic beverages sees earnings per share in the range of $2.60 to $3.00.

Average gasoline price edges up a penny to $2.63 (7:20 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The average retail price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline in the U.S. climbed a penny to $2.63 a gallon on Wednesday, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report. Gasoline sold for $2.55 a gallon a week ago and $2.23 a gallon a month ago. A year ago, gasoline cost an average of $4.04 a gallon.

CB Richard Ellis provides earnings guidance(6:28 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Commercial real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. (CBG: news, chart, profile) said Wednesday that it expects to report adjusted second-quarter earnings of between break-even and 7 cents a share. Adjusted earnings a year earlier were 16 cents a share. The group said the forecast is "highly preliminary" because its sales and leases transaction businesses tend to recognize a significant portion of their revenue toward the end of the reporting period. Analysts polled by FactSet Research had been expecting second-quarter earnings of 7 cents a share. Separately the company announced it will offer $400 million of senior subordinated notes due 2017 to repay some of its outstanding debt and for general corporate purposes. It's also sold 13.4 million shares to Paulson & Co. Inc. for gross proceeds of $100 million and intends to sell a further $50 million of shares in an at-the-market offering.

Halfords net profit slips, dividend lifted(2:49 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. auto accessories retailer Halfords (UK:HFD: news, chart, profile) said its net profit for the year ended April 3 fell 13% to 55.8 million pounds ($91.1 million). Revenue rose to 809.5 million pounds from 797.4 million pounds. The group said comparable sales for the year declined by 3.3%. Adjusted operating profit was up 0.9% at 101.9 million pounds. The company said it generated good growth in its core business of car maintenance and cycling and expects to deliver further earnings growth in the current year. The board recommended a final dividend payment of 10.9 pence a share, making a total of 15.9 pence for the year, or an increase of 5.3%.

Inditex posts 5% rise in sales; keeps guidance(2:44 am ET)
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- Spanish retail group Inditex (ES:ITX: news, chart, profile) on Wednesday reported a 5% rise in first quarter sales to 2.3 billion euros ($3.2 billion), against sales of 2.2 billion euros in the same period a year ago. Net income for the group fell 16% to 184 million euros, against 219 million euros a year ago. A survey of analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires was expecting net income of 190 million euros. From May 1 to June 7, store sales in local currencies rose 9%. Inditex said it would maintain its expectations for both retail space growth and capital expenditure for fiscal year 2009.