Earnings Roundup :: Namibia Internet Gateway cc ::

Articles: Earnings Roundup

Posted by admin on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 01:09 AM

State Street Corp., the world’s largest custodian of assets, said first-quarter net income more than doubled, buoyed by last year’s acquisition of Deutsche Bank AG’s record-keeping and securities-lending unit.
Profit climbed to $217 million, or 63 cents a share, from $96 million, or 29 cents, a year ago. Expenses increased almost 9 percent to $908 million, or more than analysts were forecasting. ‘‘We will continue to face some substantial pressures’’ on costs, chief executive David Spina said on a conference call with investors and analysts. The company is concerned about expenses for employee benefits, incentive compensation, and real estate, he said. In the first quarter, Spina said, State Street had a ‘‘strong volume of business wins,’’ and was helped by the Deutsche Bank purchase in Europe and Asia. State Street reported assets under custody of $9.4 trillion. The company reported first-quarter operating earnings of 67 cents a share, lagging an estimate of 68 cents from Piper Jaffray analyst Andrew Collins. Profit was below forecast because of a $95 million increase in operating expenses, he wrote in a report to clients. (Bloomberg) Intel Corp. said first-quarter net income almost doubled to $1.73 billion as the company boosted sales of its more-profitable Itanium and Xeon processors. Net income was 26 cents a share, compared with 14 cents a year earlier, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel said. Sales rose 20 percent to $8.1 billion. ‘‘Things are optimistic and upbeat and we’re seeing a good recovery in terms of tech spending,’’ said Daniel Morgan, who helps manage $500 million, including Intel shares, at Noble Financial Group in Boca Raton, Fla. ‘‘Intel’s the lead-off hitter for earnings and hopefully they’ll get things going.’’ Intel’s gross margin widened to 60.2 percent in the first quarter, from last year’s 52 percent. The gross margin likely will be about 60 percent in the second quarter, Intel said. The company said revenue in the second quarter will be $7.6 billion to $8.2 billion, compared with a Thomson Financial estimate of $8.09 billion. Analysts predict Intel’s sales growth will fall to 9 percent by the end of this year from more than 20 percent in the last three quarters. Before an expense related to a settlement with Intergraph Corp., Intel said earnings per share would have been 28 cents, compared with analysts’ forecasts of 27 cents, based on a survey of 33 estimates. Analysts forecast sales of $8.16 billion. (Bloomberg) Merrill Lynch & Co. enjoyed broad-based revenue growth across its securities businesses, easily exceeding analysts’ estimates for the first quarter. The New York-based firm’s first-quarter net income soared to $1.24 billion, or $1.22 a share, almost double the $632 million, or 67 cents a share, it earned in the same period a year ago. The figures exclude dividends on preferred shares. Analysts expected first-quarter earnings of $1.07 a share. Net revenue of $6.09 billion was significantly higher than $4.8 billion a year earlier, as stock market conditions continued to improve, the bond-trading environment remained robust, and individual investors stepped up activity. (Dow Jones/AP) Johnson & Johnson said sales of its Cypher drug-coated stent and Risperdal schizophrenia medicine helped lead a 20 percent gain in first-quarter profit. Net income rose to $2.49 billion, or 83 cents a share, from $2.07 billion, or 69 cents, a year ago, the New Brunswick, N.J.-based company said. Sales increased 18 percent to $11.6 billion from $9.8 billion. Analysts had expected, on average, net income of 80 cents a share. Sales and profit rose even as Johnson & Johnson battled challenges to best-selling products including the Cypher device, introduced in April of last year. The stent, which last month began competing with Boston Scientific Corp.’s newly approved Taxus product, had $432 million in US sales in the quarter. (Bloomberg)

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