Earnings Roundup Bizworld: ConAgra Asks Stores to Quit Selling Pot Pies, Offers Refunds
PepsiCo Inc.
17% increase
NEW YORK | PepsiCo Inc., the huge beverage and snack foods maker, said its third-quarter profit rose to $1.74 billion, or $1.06 per share, up from $1.49 billion, or 89 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 11 percent to $10.17 billion from $9.13 billion a year ago. This beat analysts’ estimates of 96 cents per share.
J.B. Hunt
12% decrease
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc., the third-largest U.S. trucker, said third-quarter profit fell more than analysts expected . Net income declined to $50.8 million, or 38 cents a share, from $57.8 million, or 39 cents, a year earlier, the Lowell, Ark. -based company said . Sales rose 3.9 percent to $891.6 million.
Sallie Mae
reports loss
Sallie Mae, formally known as SLM Corp., said it swung to a third- quarter loss, missing analysts’ estimates . The net loss was $344 million, or 85 cents a share, compared with net income of $263 million, or 60 cents, from a year earlier, the company said. Core earnings were $259 million, down from $310 million a year ago .
Winnebago
59% increase
DES MOINES, Iowa | Winnebago Industries Inc. said it earned $14.8 million, or 49 cents a share, in its fourth quarter , up from $9.3 million, or 30 cents a share, a year ago. The manufacturer said sales rose 15.7 percent to $237.7 million from $205.4 million a year ago. This beat analysts’ estimates.
Safeway Inc.
12% increase
SAN FRANCISCO | Grocery store operator Safeway Inc.’s third- quarter profit matched analysts’ projections. The Pleasanton-based company said it earned $194.6 million, or 44 cents per share, compared with $173.5 million, or 39 cents per share a year ago . Revenue rose 4 percent to $9.78 billion.
– From wire reports OMAHA, Neb. | Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Supervalu Inc. and other supermarket chains stopped selling ConAgra Foods Inc. meat pot pies linked to more than 150 cases of salmonella poisoning.
ConAgra, which recalled salmonella-tainted Peter Pan peanut butter earlier this year, asked to pull the Banquet and generic brand chicken and turkey pot pies after two East Coast grocery chains made their own choice to remove the product from their shelves.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at least 20 people have been hospitalized .
lead contamination
J.C. Penney recalls over 90,000 toys
WASHINGTON | More than 90,000 children’s products, most imported by J.C. Penney Co. Inc., were recalled Thursday for containing dangerous levels of lead, a government safety group announced.
J.C. Penney recalled Chinese-made Winnie the Pooh play sets and decorative ornaments with a horse-theme, as well as art kits made in Taiwan and Vietnam. Totaling 70,400, the toys imported and sold by J.C. Penney all had excessive levels of lead in their surface paint.
Lead is toxic if ingested by young children. Under current regulations, children’s products found to have more than 0.06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.
foreign trade
Falling dollar helps lower deficit
WASHINGTON | The falling dollar led more foreigners to buy American in August, helping to push the trade deficit down to the lowest point in seven months.
That was welcome news for the Bush administration as it tries to deal with a Congress unhappy over huge trade imbalances and 3 million lost manufacturing jobs.
The budget deficit declined in 2007 to the lowest level in five years, dropping to $162.8 billion, an $85 billion improvement over 2006.
Bush said the declining budget deficit was a sign that his economic strategy of cutting taxes to grow the economy was working. But Democrats pointed to the soaring national debt under Bush as evidence of his fiscal irresponsibility.
The Commerce Department reported that the trade deficit declined to $57.6 billion in August, down 2.4 percent from the July imbalance.
It was the lowest gap between exports and imports since January and a much better showing than had been expected.
The improvement reflected a 0.4 percent rise in exports, which climbed to a record $138.3 billion, as the decline in the value of the dollar against many other foreign currencies boosted sales of American farm products, industrial supplies and consumer goods to all-time highs.
mortgage fundings
Countrywide reports decline
NEW YORK | Countrywide Financial Corp. said Thursday its mortgage fundings for September fell 44 percent from the same period a year ago, and the mortgage lender is now facing a potential federal investigation over the timing of stock sales by its chief executive.
Countrywide, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, said total mortgage fundings last month fell to $21.2 billion from $38.1 billion a year ago.
The steep decline in volume comes as the company makes a shift to originate traditional, conforming loans instead of more risky, nontraditional loans like subprime mortgages. Countrywide previously packaged the majority of its loans as securities and sold them to investors in the secondary market.
streamlining finances
bp plans massive restructuring
LONDON | BP PLC outlined a plan to streamline its structure, cutting the number of business units and stripping out management layers, as it admitted that its poor financial performance and safety record had left it lagging behind its oil industry peers.
The massive restructuring is the linchpin of new Chief Executive Tony Hayward’s attempt to restore BP’s advantage after safety and operational problems.
Analysts have blamed BP’s complex organizational layout for many of those woes, which have included a deadly Texas refinery accident, an oil spill in Alaska and delays at its Gulf of Mexico oil and gas projects.
Under Hayward’s plan, that will start with cutting the number of BP’s main business segments from three to two. The company will incorporate its existing gas, power and renewables business into the two remaining units – exploration and production, and refining and marketing.
– From wire reports INCREASED
Apogee Entrprs Q.07410-3011-14
Energy East Corp Q.3110-2211-15
SPECIAL
Utility HOLDRS x16.6210-1710-19
x- Proceeds from TXU Corp merger.
CORRECTION
Compass Diversif x.32510-2310-26
x- Payable date was revised.
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