Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE:
ALK -
News) said January traffic at its Alaska Airlines' unit fell 0.8% while its capacity rose 2.8%. That translated to a fall in load factor, or percentage of seats filled with paying passengers, to 66.5% from 69%. Horizon Air January traffic rose 0.3%, its capacity rose 2.6%, translating to a load factor fall to 63.3% from 64.7%.
Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:
APA -
News) said it expects a charge of roughly $100 million related to Algeria's new "exceptional profits" tax, which applies when monthly average Brent Crude prices exceed $30 per barrel. The energy exploration and production company said Monday the charge represents an estimated liability for the period from Aug. 1 through Dec. 31. The Houston company expects a relief because Anadarko operates its Algerian assets under a production-sharing contract that includes a stabilization clause, which is designed to protect the investment and related asset value.
Bisys Group (NYSE:
BSG -
News) filed its Form 10-Q for the period ended Sept. 30, 2006, and reported net income of $14 million, compared with $13.4 million during the year-ago period. Revenue for the first fiscal quarter of 2007 was $211.5 million vs. $205.7 million.
British Airways (NYSE:
BAB -
News) reported a 2.8% drop in passenger traffic in January, due to flights being cancelled on the risk of a strike by its cabin crew. Its passenger load factor, a measure of passengers to available seats, dropped 3 percentage points to 69.5%. The market continues to show good demand in premium cabins. The weakness in some non-premium segments is also still a feature, the airline said.
Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE:
BKC -
News) filed to sell 20 million shares from selling stockholders, including entities managed by Bain Capital, Goldman Sachs and Texas Pacific Group. Based on its closing price of $20.28 a share on Friday, the stock offering will raise about $406 million. The offering comes after Burger King held its initial public offering of 25 million shares at $17 a share on May 18, 2006.
Columbia Laboratories' (NasdaqGM:
CBRX -
News) shares plummeted 69% to $1.44 in Monday morning trade after the Livingston, N.J.-based company announced late Sunday that its Phase III clinical trial of progesterone for the prevention of preterm birth did not achieve any reduction in the incidence of preterm birth at week 32, the primary endpoint. Progesterone also did not reduce the incidence of preterm birth at weeks 28, 35 and 37, the secondary endpoints of the study. Robert Mills, Columbia's chief executive, called the results "extremely disappointing."
Electronic Arts (NasdaqGS:
ERTS -
News) was downgraded to neutral from overweight at J.P. Morgan. The firm cited valuation and competition from a strong line up of games at its competitors. The broker added another possibility is that the industry could witness further hardware shipment cuts, which could limit demand for Electronic Arts' new titles.
Lexmark International (NYSE:
LXK -
News) was downgraded to reduce from neutral at UBS.
Majesco Entertainment Co. (NasdaqCM:
COOL -
News) said its financial statements for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2006 contain a going concern modification. According to a Jan. 29 filing, the company's auditors have issued an opinion indicating that there is substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern because Majesco has incurred net losses for the years ended Oct. 31, 2005 and 2006.
The McClatchy Co. (NYSE:
MNI -
News) was cut to market perform from outperform at Wachovia, which cited valuation and the continuing challenges in the advertising market, especially in the real estate category. "When we initiated coverage of the stock with an outperform rating, we thought the company would be able to increase its estimated cost savings related to the Knight Ridder deal. However, we now think any upside will be more than offset by revenue declines," Wachovia said. "While the stock has been weak, we think continued downward revisions of consensus estimates will make it difficult for the stock to trade materially higher," it added.
Midas Inc. (NYSE:
MDS -
News) said it plans to record a charge of $1.9 million in the fourth quarter related to closing six unprofitable company-owned shops in Florida. The company also said it expects a decline in U.S. comparable shop sales of 1.7% for the fourth quarter and 1.5% for the full year, citing lower advertising than in the year-ago period.
Nathan's Famous Inc. (NasdaqGM:
NATH -
News) reported third-quarter earnings of $1.1 million, or 17 cents a share, up from a year-ago profit of $770,000, or 12 cents a share.
NewMarket (NYSE:
NEU -
News) shares fell after the Richmond, Va.-based maker of chemical additives late Friday reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $4.5 million, or 26 cents a share, down from $11.1 million, or 64 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding special items, the company posted a per-share profit of 60 cents vs. 46 cents. Revenue rose to $306.2 million from $293.7 million.
Overstock.com (NasdaqGM:
OSTK -
News) filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco seeking damages of $3.48 billion against a group of companies it says control over 80% of the prime brokerage market. The company also reported a fourth-quarter loss that widened to $40.7 million, or $1.92 a share, from $6.28 million, or 33 cents a share, a year earlier, hurt by lower revenue and increased expenses. The Salt Lake City-based online closeout retailer said revenue fell 6% to $297.5 million from $318 million a year earlier on lower traffic rates and smaller gross margins. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected, on average, a fourth-quarter loss of 85 cents a share on revenue of $305.7 million.
PMI Group (NYSE:
PMI -
News) said fourth-quarter net income fell 7% to $100.5 million, though earnings per share rose 7% to $1.19 a share, in line with analyst forecasts. Revenue rose 12% to $318 million. The profit declines amid loss reserve additions in U.S. mortgage insurance operations and an increase in total incurred losses in PMI Australia.
Regal-Beloit Corp. (NYSE:
RBC -
News) reported fourth-quarter earnings of $23 million, or 68 cents a share, up from a year-ago profit of $20.3 million, or 63 cents a share. Net sales slipped 2.5% in the latest three months to $366.6 million from $376.2 million in the same period a year earlier. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call was for a profit of 68 cents a share in the December period.
Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:
RCL -
News) said fourth-quarter net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 rose to $46.6 million, or 22 cents a share, from a loss of $3.6 million, or 2 cents a share in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $1.15 billion from $1 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast earnings of 20 cents a share and revenue of $1.16 billion, on average. The cruise line expects first-quarter income of 3 to 8 cents a share. The current analyst estimate is 32 cents a share. For the full year, Royal Caribbean forecast earnings of $3.05-$3.20, compared to the analyst estimate of $3.15 a share.
State Street Corp. (NYSE:
STT -
News) has agreed to buy Investors Financial Services Corp. (NasdaqGS:
IFIN -
News) for around $4.5 billion in stock. Investors Financial shareholders will receive 0.906 shares of State Street common stock for each share held, based upon the closing price of State Street common stock on February 2. Approximately 62 million State Street common shares will be issued in the transaction. The transaction is expected to be dilutive to State Street's operating earnings in 2007, neutral to earnings in 2008 on an operating basis, lift earnings in 2008 on a cash basis and lift operating earnings in 2009, based on anticipated pre-tax cost savings of approximately $345 million to $365 million during the first two years following closing. State Street expects to take restructuring charges of between $625 million to $675 million.
Transmeta Corp. (NasdaqGM:
TMTA -
News) shares tumbled after the company said it's streamlining its operations to focus on its core business of intellectual property licensing. The company plans to decrease its workforce by roughly 39% as part of the restructuring, shedding about 75 employees, mostly in its engineering services businesses.
Unitrin Inc. (NYSE:
UTR -
News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $61.6 million, or 91 cents a share, down 29% from $86.7 million, or $1.26 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue at the Chicago-based financial services company rose to $763.9 million from $755.9 million.
YRC Worldwide (NasdaqGS:
YRCW -
News) was downgraded to neutral from outperform at Credit Suisse.
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