Henderson Group Reports Impressive Underlying Profit

U.K.-based fund manager Henderson Group reported an impressive underlying profit before tax of GBP 101 million for first-half 2013, up 22% on first half 2012 and in line with our expectations and guidance. Diluted earnings per share of 8 pence per share increased 14% on 7 pence in first-half 2012. Assets under management increased 3.5% from GBP 66 billion at December 2012 to GBP 68 … Continue reading Henderson Group Reports Impressive Underlying Profit

WR Announces Cost Cutting Initiative

Westar management announced a cost-cutting initiative via employee reductions to save $16 million annually (roughly 3% of total operating and maintenance and selling, general, and administrative expenses) beginning in the fourth quarter of 2012 and extending through the third quarter of 2013, given continued economic weakness and soft customer growth. Westar filed an abbreviated rate case in April 2013 to recover $335 million of its … Continue reading WR Announces Cost Cutting Initiative

Subscriber Growth Helps Telstra Meet Expectations

Telstra reported a fiscal 2013 result in line with Street expectations. The low single-digit earnings growth was driven by mobile and the network, applications and services (NAS) divisions. Mobile revenue increased 6% to AUD 9.2 billion, driven by strong subscriber growth and increase in market share. Increased demand for cloud services from corporates lifted NAS revenue by 17.7% to AUD 1.5 billion. Payment from the … Continue reading Subscriber Growth Helps Telstra Meet Expectations

AutoNation Matches Consensus

AutoNation reported second-quarter results that matched consensus EPS expectations of $0.73 while revenue of $4.4 billion exceeded consensus expectation of $4.3 billion. Analysts  intend to raise the  fair value estimate to account for higher revenue growth and AutoNation capturing slightly more market share than we currently model in our five-year forecast period.  The results show that the U.S. auto recovery continues at a strong pace … Continue reading AutoNation Matches Consensus

ALV Stronger Than Predicted

Autoliv reported stronger than expected second-quarter earnings per share of $1.48, besting the Street consensus by $0.10 and $0.09 higher than the year-ago $1.39 EPS. Owing to an anemic European new car market, analysts were also expecting Autoliv to report flattish earnings for the quarter. The company’s like-for-like European revenue increased by 4% compared with a 4% decline in new car registrations. Management also raised … Continue reading ALV Stronger Than Predicted

STERV Sees Loss in Paper and Writing Segment

In the second quarter, Finnish forest products company Stora Enso had a surprising loss in its Paper and Writing segment. Even though the secular headwinds for publishing paper in Europe are well known, Stora had previously been able to turn a consistent profit in the business in recent years. Management says it is stepping up its cost-cutting efforts in response to the loss, but many … Continue reading STERV Sees Loss in Paper and Writing Segment