-
Syndicate
Nov
8
Walt Disney Profits Fall by 13%
Filed Under Finance | Leave a Comment
Entertainment conglomerate Walt Disney Co reported that its quarterly profit fell 13% owing to a combination of bad financial decisions and less successful films at the box office.
Walt Disney announced its fourth fiscal results on Thursday which revealed that its profits had come down to $760 million or 40 cents a share in the quarter from a profit of $877 million or 44 cents a share in the same quarter previous year. Revenue however rose 6% to $9.45 billion on improved performance from the company’s cable business as well as theme parks. According to analysts polled by FactSet Research, the company’s profits had been forecast at 49 cents a share on sales of $9.31 billion.
Walt Disney officials revealed that the decline in profits were mainly due to a $91 million bad debt charge on a payment due from financial services firm Lehman Brothers which went bankrupt in September and in the process triggered off a financial meltdown of global proportions.
Chief Executive of Walt Disney Bob Iger said at a conference call that the general slowdown in the economy had also played a major role in the decline of the company’s profits. With shrinking spending power, consumers were cutting down on entertainment expenses and thus bookings at Disney’s theme parks and entertainment venues had fallen considerably over the past month.
Nov
6
ArcelorMittal posted lower-than-expected profits and doubled production cuts as the impact of a global economic slowdown did not spare even the largest steelmaker in the world.
Third quarter income of the Luxembourg-based steel giant rose by 29% to $3.82 billion or $2.78 a share thus falling significantly below the estimate of $8.7 billion forecast by six analysts. Sales rose by 38% to $35.2 billion.
However ArcelorMittal announced that it would cut global output by around 30% in an attempt to support prices. Output of flat carbon steel is expected to fall by over 35% in United States and by more than 30% in Europe which constitute two of the biggest markets for the steel company. The cuts are expected to continue till early 2009, according to the chief financial officer of the company, Aditya Mittal.
Along with production cuts, ArcelorMittal also announced that it was lowering it fourth quarter forecast earnings by as much as 48% to $2.5 billion. The lowering of future profits and the slash in output comes at a time when the global economic slowdown has led to declining demand from both builders and auto makers. With this ArecelorMittal joins its competitors from Russia, South Korea and Japan in curtailing production only a couple of months after steel prices touched record highs.
Nov
1
Exxon Mobil Corp posted a record profit of $14.8 billion in its third quarter results, boosted by triple-digit oil prices of crude oil last summer.
The Irving, Texas-based energy giant announced its third quarter results on Thursday which saw profits shoot up by 58% to a new record of nearly $15 billion. The company said that it earned $14.83 billion or $2.86 a share as opposed to $941 billion or $1.70 a share during the same period last year. Revenues in the quarter rose to $137.74 billion from $102.34 billion of last year.
However Exxon’s streak of posting spectacular profits is most likely to end with the latest quarter. While prices of crude oil had touched almost $150 a barrel in July this year, in recent weeks the prices have plunged to the level of $65 a barrel. This drop in prices is sure to take away a giant chunk from the profits of Exxon Mobil and other oil companies in the next quarter.
Along with announcing its third quarter results, Exxon also said that total production fell by 8% and predicted that its fourth-quarter earnings would fall by $500 million on account of repairs as well as lower volumes of supply. The dismal forecast led to a 1.3% fall in shares of Exxon which came down to $73.66.
Oct
31
The Federal Reserve has decided to provide the central banks of Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore with $30 billion each in the first instance of aid to emerging economies. The finance package will form part of the Federal Reserve’s attempts to unclog the credit system and encourage banks to lend to each other.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced that it was setting up liquidity swap facilities with the central banks of these four countries which would remain effective until April 30 of next year. The Federal Reserve also said that arrangements were put in place in order to minimise the difficulty in obtaining dollar funding by the “large systemically economies” of Mexico, Brazil, Singapore and South Korea.
The Federal measure coincided with key interest rate cut ordered by the central bank of China which was then followed by the central banks of Taiwan and Hong Kong on Thursday. Investors and banking institutions are hoping that these measures will prevent the financial market from upending. South Korea especially benefited from the Federal step as its benchmark stock index witnessed its largest gain since 1980 even as its currency, the won, surged and the cost of protecting Asia-Pacific bonds from default took a nosedive.
Oct
30
Qwest Profits Fall in Third Quarter
Filed Under Finance | Leave a Comment
US telecommunications company Qwest Communications International Inc reported a decline in profits during the third quarter as the weak economy forced consumers to disconnect landlines in an attempt to save money.
Qwest posted its third-quarter results on Tuesday which saw profits coming down to $151 million or 9 cents a share as compared to $2.1 billion or $1.08 a share in the same period a year ago. Returns of the previous year however included tax benefits. The company further revealed that adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation as well as amortization came down from $1.15 billion in the last year’s quarter to $1.08 billion in the third quarter this fiscal year.
Revenue also declined marginally from $3.43 billion a year back to $3.38 billion which was roughly in keeping with $3.3 billion forecast made by Reuters Estimates. Full year forecasts by Qwest came down to the lower end of its previous outlook and now estimates that revenue will decline by a further 2.5 percent while adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization will come down by between 1 percent and 2 percent.
Qwest Communications Inc blamed the fall in profits to an increase in the number of disconnected telephone landlines as consumers strove to save costs during difficult economic times. The company has already said that it would slash around 1200 jobs in the fourth quarter.
Oct
21
Halliburton Posts Third Quarter Losses on Higher Costs, Hurricanes
Filed Under Finance | Leave a Comment
Halliburton Co posted a loss of $21 million in its third quarter due to high financing costs and loss of revenue caused by hurricanes in its New Mexico oilfields.
The second-largest oilfield services provider in the world Halliburton Co announced Monday that its third quarter loss was 2 cents a share compared to the net income of $727 million or 79 cents a share in the same quarter last year. However the company declared per-share profit of 76 cents which was 2 cents more than the average of 24 that had been predicted by analysts at Bloomberg. However this per-share profit excludes an acquisition charge as well as $693 million in costs related to redemption of convertible bonds.
Houston-based Halliburton also attributed its decline in profits to the Hurricanes Ike and Gustav which disrupted projects and caused damage to many of its operations on the Gulf Coast. The losses inflicted by the hurricanes include a fall in revenue by $74 million and reduced earnings by 4 cents a share.
At present Halliburton is in the process of an overseas expansion. This comes in the wake of gains in oil and natural gas prices which in turn have stoke demand in regions like Latin America and Asia. Recently the company opened its Middle Eastern headquarters besides launching technology centres in Russia and Asia.
Oct
20
Exelon is not taking hostile bid for NRG of the table
Filed Under Finance, Investing, News | Leave a Comment
Exelon Corp, might make a hostile bid for NRG Energy Inc if the company rejects its $6 billion takeover offer.
Exelong is the United States’ largest Nuclear power operator and it announced its bid for NRG on Sunday. The company offered a flat exchange ratio of 0.485 Exelon share for each NRG share, equivalent to about $25.27 a share at current prices.
Exelon’s Cheif executive, John Rowe, said while addressing investors in a conference call “We hope this turns out to be friendly rather than hostile, but we are committed to pursuing this offer and we shall do so,”.
“We did not do this lightly and we were very well advised about what it might take to get this done,”
The news of the takeover plan gave a 25% NRG Energy Inc’s shares, they were one of the big gainers on Wall Street when trading opened but still are values below what Exelon is offering. If the takeover is sucessful Exelon would effectively become the United States No. 1 power company.
Exelon has suspended a $1.5 billion share buy back plan due to worsening market conditions.
Oct
20
Dutch Government to Inject EUR10 billion in ING
Filed Under Economy, Finance, Investing, News | Leave a Comment
After government intervention from the United States to South Korea to Germany, and now the Dutch government is set to take action to protect the nations economy from the global financial crisis. It would be injecting about10 billion Euros into ING Groep NV (ING) in an accord signed with the Dutch Central bank.
ING, banking and insurance group, attempted to pad its capital position in order to brace itself from the effects of the global crisis. ING in an official statement said it would issue EUR10 billion worth of non-voting Tier-1 securities to the Dutch State Bank.
ING Chief Executive Michel Tilmant said “Our capital position was in line with previously targeted levels and regulatory requirements. However, market conditions have changed dramatically in recent weeks and have led to an internationally recognized belief that going forward, in this market environment, capital requirements for financial institutions should be higher,”
The Dutch government would get 2 seats on ING’s supervisory board and 8% annual interest on the securities. Giving the Dutch government veto rights on acquisitions and investments involving more than 25% of the invested funds.
The Dutch financial minister said that ING was a healthy company and the move was made to maintain the company’s strength during the global financial turmoil.
Oct
20
General Motors and Chrysler Pushing for an Urgent Deal
Filed Under Economy, Finance, Lead Story, News | Leave a Comment
America’s biggest and the World’s Second largest automaker GM is feeling the heat from the Global financial crisis. The firm is seeking a merger deal with competitor Chrysler just days before the Presidential election. The US auto market has been hit hard and sales continue to decline. General Motors lost its position as the World’s Largest Automaker hardly a month ago.
According to a local Detroit Newspaper, executives from Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity group that bought an 80.1% stake in Chrysler from Daimler AG in August last year, and GM are eager to polish off the deal before their positions exacerbate by declining sales.
Both Companies losing money rapidly, according to estimates made by various analysts General Motors is burning at least 1 billion dollars per month to be specific. The credit crunch has left Banks and major financial organizations unwilling to lend money to the industry.
Both the Companies are hotfooting to conceal the deal before Americans head to the polls on Nov. 4th. They also are seeking help from the US government along the lines of the $700 Billion bailout plan. The US auto market accounts for a large number of jobs in Michigan and Ohio which both are significant game makers in US presidential race.
Oct
20
Global Financial summit Due after American Elections
Filed Under Economy, Finance, News | Leave a Comment
George W. Bush along with the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the president of the European Commission, Jose Barroso, will be requesting world leaders to attend a summit on the global financial crisis which is set to be held in the United States, after the Nov. 4th election.
“The first task is to stabilize the financial markets in our own countries,” claimed Bush while welcoming both the leaders to the Presidential retreat at camp David , “Given that the world has never been more interconnected, it is essential that we work together because we’re in this crisis together.”
The 3 leaders issued a joint statement yesterday, “the challenges facing the global economy.” They claimed that the first summit will attempt“agreement on principles of reform needed to avoid a repetition and assure global prosperity in the future,”.Future Meetings `would be designed to implement agreement on specific steps to be taken to meet those principles,”
This measure comes after European Leaders seeked an emergency meeting of the world’s richest nations better-known as the Group of 8, along with emerging economies like China and India, in order to inspect and repair global financial regulatory systems.
The November summit will include leaders from both developed and developing countries.
ProfitEdition- Jerry Yang to quit Yahoo
- Walt Disney Profits Fall by 13%
- Surge of Text Messages Sent on Election Night
- Grim Forecast for Retail Industry Ahead of Holiday Season
- Wall Street Bonuses Set to Plunge, Says Report
- Historic Presidential Win Boosts Newspaper Sales
- ArcelorMittal Announces Output Cut, Lowers Forecast
- Global Markets Trade Cautiously as US Votes
- South Korea Plans $11 Billion Boost to Economy
- American Express Plans 7000 Lay-offs to Cut Costs
- US Justice Dept Clears Verizon-Alltel Merger
- Exxon Posts Record $14.8 Billion Profits in Third Quarter
- Fed Opens Swaps with Central Banks of Four Developing Nations
- Delta and Northwest Airlines Merger Given Clearance
- China Brings Down Interest Rates Still Further
- Qwest Profits Fall in Third Quarter
- Many a Nouveau Riche Figures in CNN Billionaire List
- EZUnsecured.com Offers Easy and Quick Start Up Loans
- Treasury Secy Says Banks Interested in Bailout
- China’s Growth Rate Slides Below 10%
-
Suggested Sites