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Friday, July 10

Bodycote sales down 20%, profit may miss consensus(2:28 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Bodycote (UK:BOY: news, chart, profile) said Friday that revenue from continuing operations in the first half of the year fell around 20% and if demand remains weak it expects earnings will be materially below recent market expectations. The group, which provides heat treatment and metallurgical coating services, said demand has been weakest in countries such as Germany and Sweden with major automotive industries. It is stepping up its cost-cutting measures, particularly in South America and Europe. Bodycote said its short order book and continuing uncertainty in market conditions makes visibility very limited, but if demand remains depressed earnings before interest and taxes for the year will be below the 24 million pound ($39 million) consensus.

Infosys reports 17.3% jump in first-quarter profit(12:17 am ET)
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- India's Infosys Technologies (INFY: news, chart, profile) on Friday reported a better-than-expected 17.3% jump in fiscal first-quarter net profit, but forecast a bigger drop in annual profit on a difficult business environment and a strengthened rupee. The software major said it made 15.27 billion rupees ($318 million) in net income for the quarter ended June 30, while revenue grew 12.7% to 54.72 billion rupees. The company forecast its earnings per share for the full-year will decline by between 8.2% and 9.6% to a range between 94.59 and 96 rupees, under Indian accounting standards. That compared with its April prediction of an EPS between 96.65 rupees and 101.18 rupees.
Thursday, July 9

Shaw profit falls to $7.9 million (4:29 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shaw Group (SGR: news, chart, profile) late Thursday afternoon reported fiscal third-quarter net income fell to $7.9 billion, or 9 cents a share, from $51.9 million, or 62 cents a share, a year earlier. Shaw said foreign currency losses tied to its Westinghouse segment ate into its profit. Excluding Westinghouse, Shaw said it earned 57 cents a share, compared to 67 cents last year. Sales for the quarter were flat at $1.8 billion. Shaw said its backlog of unfilled orders at May 31, 2009, was a record $22.9 billion, up from $15.6 billion last fall. Based in Baton Rogue, La., Shaw provides engineering and construction services to the energy and chemicals industries.

AIG shares slump 21% on bearish Citi note(10:47 am ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- American International Group shares (AIG: news, chart, profile) slumped more than 20% Thursday after Citigroup analyst Joshua Shanker said there's a strong chance that the troubled insurer's common stock goes to zero. "Our valuation includes a 70% chance that the equity at AIG is zero," the analyst wrote in a note to investors late Wednesday. That reflects the risk of further losses on credit-default swaps and the company's increased willingness to sell businesses at low valuations, Shanker explained. "While AIG may be able to pay back [the] U.S. investment as well as some debt with core asset sales, eventually the remaining businesses may be those that generate lower ROEs, handicapped by a high debt burden." AIG shares slumped 21% to $10.32 during morning action Thursday. The stock has lost more than half its value so far this month.

Destination Maternity EPS to climb more than 34%(6:14 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Destination Maternity (DEST: news, chart, profile) said fiscal third-quarter earnings per share are expected to rise by more than 34% to above 91 cents a share, which is above the firm's prior target between 74 cents and 91 cents a share, as it was able to reduce expenses and control markdown levels. Same-store sales in June fell 10.7% and total sales fell 10% to $41.3 million.

Stage Stores June comparable sales off (6:11 am ET)
TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Stage Stores Inc., (SSI: news, chart, profile) the Houston retailer, reported that for June, comparable-store sales fell 12.6% as total sales fell 10.1% to $128 million from $142 million in the year-earlier month. A survey of analysts by Thompson Reuters produced a consensus estimate of a decline of 8% in same-store sales. "Cosmetics continued as the strongest family of business and achieved a comparable-store sales increase during June," the company said in a statement. June overall was "disappointing," President and Chief Executive Andy Hall said. Stage pared comparable-store inventories by 13%.

Costco June same-store sales fell 6%(3:09 am ET)
TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Costco Wholesale Corp., (COST: news, chart, profile) the Issaquah, Wash., warehouse retailer, reported that for June, same-store sales fell 6%, matching the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Net sales for the month fell 4% to $6.88 billion from $7.15 billion in the year-earlier month. The same-store sales reflected declines of 6% in the U.S. and 3% internationally. Excluding the impact of gasoline-price declines in the U.S. and foreign-exchange translations -- largely in Canada, the U.K. and South Korea -- comparable sales rose 1%.

Hays sees demand falling across all regions(3:00 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. recruitment firm Hays (UK:HAS: news, chart, profile) said Thursday that the three months to June 30 were another tough quarter, with continued reductions in demand across all the 28 countries in which it operates. Net fees were down 37% from a year earlier, with the biggest declines seen in the U.K. and the Asia Pacific region. Demand has continued to weaken since the end of the quarter, but the group said it is positioned well to deal with the short-term market conditions after cutting costs early in the downturn.

PartyGaming revenue in line with first quarter(2:53 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. online gambling group PartyGaming (UK:PRTY: news, chart, profile) said Thursday that group revenue since early April has been in line with that achieved in the first quarter of the year as it also announced the launch of a new poker site in Italy. The group said revenue from its casino business has grown strongly from the first quarter following a major marketing campaign. Poker revenue was down due to increased player loyalty bonuses. The group said it has increased its marketing in certain territories in order to capitalize on the recent seizure of player funds from U.S.-facing sites. This has already helped boost player numbers, but is also expected to lead to distribution costs being slightly higher than the previous guidance of 38% to 40% of net revenue.