Aaron Rents Inc. (NYSE:
RNT -
News) reported fourth-quarter earnings of 35 cents a share, up from 29 cents in the year-earlier period. The Atlanta rental-services company posted revenue of $339.9 million vs. $296.2 million. Aaron Rents expects first-quarter earnings of 45 cents to 49 cents a share on revenue exceeding $390 million. For 2007, the company said it should earn $1.55 to $1.65 on revenue in excess of $1.5 billion, excluding revenue of franchisees.
American Capital Strategies (NasdaqGS:
ACAS -
News) was downgraded to neutral from buy at Banc of America Securities.
Anglo American (NasdaqCM:
AAUK -
News) said its 2006 net profit rose 76% to $6.2 billion and that it's planning to return another $3 billion shares through a buyback program. The miner said that the results followed a strong performance from platinum, base metals, ferrous metals and gold operations, with record production levels achieved in the period. The company said that its interest in gold mining company AngloGold Ashanti now stands at 42%, having realized $1 billion through its exit strategy to date. The company said that it expects a modest decline in global growth from 2006, which should provide a supportive climate for commodities in the near term.
BTU International (NasdaqGM:
BTUI -
News) shares tumbled after the supplier of thermal processing equipment late Tuesday reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $1.02 million, or 11 cents a share, down from $2.09 million, or 25 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue fell to $16.6 million from $19.3 million. BTU said it expects results for the first quarter of 2007 to be similar to those of the fourth quarter of 2006.
First Marblehead Corp. (NYSE:
FMD -
News) said its board increased the quarterly dividend to 15 cents from 12 cents. The Boston, Mass., educational lender said the dividend is payable March 12, to shareholders of record March 5.
FTD Group Inc. (NYSE:
FTD -
News) said its board initiated a quarterly dividend at 16.25 cents, or an annual rate of 65 cents. The Downers Grove, Ill., floral products company said the dividend is payable April 2 to shareholders of record March 19. The company also plans a secondary offering of 6 million common shares. The shares are being sold by affiliates of Leonard Green & Partners LP and certain members of FTD management.
Group 1 Automotive Inc. (NYSE:
GPI -
News) said fourth-quarter earnings fell 8.5% to $14.8 million, or 61 cents a share, from $16.2 million, or 66 cents a share, a year earlier, hurt by a charge of 6 cents a share related to fixed-asset write-offs and franchise-rights impairment charges. Excluding the items, the company posted earnings of 67 cents a share. The Houston-based automotive retailer said revenue rose 5.7% to $1.51 billion from $1.43 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected, on average, fourth-quarter earnings of 77 cents a share on revenue of $1.53 billion. The company expects 2007 earnings of $4 to $4.25 a share, excluding certain items.
Hana Biosciences' (NasdaqGM:
HNAB -
News) shares slid after the South San Francisco, Calif.-based company said it has discovered "small amounts of precipitated material" in batches of its Zensana oral spray which may require an adjustment to the formulation or the manufacturing process. Hana said the issue is likely to delay Food and Drug Administration approval of Zensana beyond the expected action date of April 30. Zensana is used to prevent nausea and vomiting as a result of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:
HPQ -
News) posted a 26% rise in first-quarter earnings, boosted by sales at the unit that sells personal computers and related hardware. Sales in the imaging and printing group were also higher.
Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:
MDT -
News) reported higher third-quarter earnings and revenue, with a rise in sales of its stents but lower sales of its implantable cardiac defibrillators.
Merck & Co. (NYSE:
MRK -
News) plans to suspend its lobbying campaign for the mandatory vaccination of Gardasil, which protects against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer, according to a report on The Wall Street Journal's Web site.
Motorola (NYSE:
MOT -
News) was downgraded to equal-weight from overweight by Lehman Bros. "We believe handset margins are recovering slower than expected - following checks at 3GSM and in channel - and thus Motorola's recovery story may extend into 2008. As the shares are trading in line with peers following our EPS trim, we adopt a neutral stance. We believe RAZR/KRZR average selling prices continue to decline, limiting its scope to launch new product with materially higher prices," the broker said.
NovaStar Financial (NYSE:
NFI -
News) said it's considering whether to change its real estate investment trust status after the subprime-mortgage lender reported a fourth-quarter net loss. REITs have to distribute at least 90% of their taxable income as dividends.
Pharmacyclics (NasdaqGM:
PCYC -
News) shares dropped after the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said it has received a refuse to file letter from the Food and Drug Administration for the company's new drug application for Xcytrin injection. Xcytrin is a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer patients with brain metastases. According to the company, the FDA said in the letter that Pharmacyclics' application is not "sufficiently complete to permit a substantive review based on clinical studies that failed to demonstrate statistically significant differences between treatment arms in the primary endpoints."
Possis Medical (NasdaqGS:
POSS -
News) shares fell after the Minneapolis-based medical device maker reported fiscal second-quarter net income of $174,000, or a penny a share, vs. $342,000, or 2 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding stock-based compensation expense, earnings came in at 5 cents a share compared with 6 cents a share last year. Revenue rose 4.5% to $15.8 million from $15.1 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting a per-share profit of 3 cents on revenue of $16.5 million. Possis lowered its fiscal 2007 revenue forecast to a range of $66 million to $69 million, and forecast earnings of 9 cents to 18 cents a share, or 25 cents to 34 cents a share excluding items.
Stec Inc. (NasdaqGM:
STEC -
News) reported fourth-quarter earnings of 19 cents a share, up from 2 cents in the year-earlier period. The Santa Ana, Calif., computer-memory company posted revenue of $114.3 million vs. $63.3 million.
TJX Cos.' (NYSE:
TJX -
News) fiscal fourth-quarter earnings fell 29% to $205.5 million, or 43 cents a share, from $288.7 million, or 60 cents a share, a year earlier, as the company recorded a $38.1 million loss from discontinued operations and expenses climbed. The fourth quarter included a charge of a penny a share related to a computer-system breach reported in January. Excluding year-ago tax benefits, the Framingham, Mass., discount retail chain had adjusted earnings from continuing operations of 52 cents a share, up from 45 cents a share, a year earlier. The company also said it now believes the previously announced unauthorized intrusion into its computer systems occurred as early in July 2005 and on various subsequent dates in 2005. The Framingham, Mass., off-price retailer previously believed the intrusion took place only from May 2006 to Jan. 2007. The company believes there was no compromise of customer data after mid-December 2006.
Zale Corp. (NYSE:
ZLC -
News) said fiscal second-quarter profit rose to $88.1 million, or $1.80 a share, from $87.8 million, or $1.78 a share. On an adjusted basis, it earned $1.94 a share, excluding adjustments for derivative accounting and a change in methodology in revenue recognition for lifetime jewelry protection plans. Total revenue rose to $1 billion from $993.7 million. Analysts, on average, expected it to earn $1.89 a share on revenue of $1.02 billion, according to Thomson Financial. Sales at stores open at least one year fell 1.4%. The Dallas-based company projects a fiscal third quarter same-store sales decrease of 2% to 3% and earnings per share in the range of nil to 4 cents. For the fiscal fourth quarter, Zale sees same-store sales coming in flat to slightly positive and a per-share loss of 1 to 5 cents a share. For the fiscal year, it expects to earn $1.46 to $1.52 a share. The company's guidance excludes the impact of derivative accounting and the change to its jewelry protection plan offering and related revenue recognition.
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Labels: AAUK, ACAS, BTUI, FMD, FTD, GPI, HNAB, HPQ, MDT, MOT, MRK, NFI, PCYC, POSS, RNT, STEC, TJX, ZLC
