The United States’ largest bank by assets, JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) said on Friday that it swung in to fiscal third quarter loss as heavy litigation expenses hurt the bottom line. Adjusted earnings beat analysts’ consensus estimate but revenue missed the forecast. For the latest period, the company took a charge of $9.2 billion linked to litigation expenses, resulting in a net loss of $380 million compared to a net profit of $5.7 billion, in the same quarter of last year. On adjusted basis, the bank earned $1.42 a share while analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecasted earnings of $1.17 a share. Revenue declined 8% to $23.9 billion.
Month: October 2013
Teva Pharmaceuticals to Slash 5000 Jobs
Israeli drug maker, Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE: TEVA) announced on Thursday that it will slash about 5,000 jobs, mainly by the end of next year as part of its broader restructuring plan, aimed at narrowing its oversized business and streamlining operations. The Company intends to focus on fast growing generic drug business as well as its core R&D programs. Teva expects to save $2 billion in annual costs by the end of 2017. Shares were gaining following the announcement. Teva, which is one the world’s leading generic drug maker, struggled in the recent past due to declining sales-trend in its both generic and branded-drugs segments.
Quest Diagnostics Warns Q3 Earnings to Miss Estimate
Laboratory test services provider, Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE: DGX) expects fiscal third quarter profit to miss analysts’ estimation. The Company cited drop in number of tests ordered during the latter part of the quarter for a downbeat guidance. Quest Diagnostics now expects non-GAAP earnings of $1.02 a share down from its earlier projection of $1.15 a share. Analysts had forecasted earnings of $1.20 a share. The Company also anticipates revenue from continuing operations to come at $1.79 billion, which is below analysts’ expectation of $1.84 billion.
Family Dollar FY 2014 Outlook Cautious
Discount retailer, Family Dollar Stores Inc. said on Wednesday that it is bracing for a tough new fiscal year as shoppers are spending money only on essentials even as it handed better-than-expected fiscal fourth quarter profit, thanks to its costs cutting measures. However, sales in the latest period were weaker-than-expected and same-store-sales came in flat. Analysts had forecasted same-store-sales to grow by 2%. The Company said that both customer traffic and average money spent per transaction were also flat. For the current quarter, Family Dollar anticipates same-store-sales to show low-single digit percentage growth compared to 6.6% increase in the year-ago period.
Men’s Wearhouse Rejects $2.4 Billion Takeover Bid from Jos. A. Bank
Men’s Wearhouse board rejected a $2.4 takeover bid from smaller rival Jos. A. Bank Clothiers on Wednesday, marking it as the second occasion when the company has turned down the idea of selling the clothing chain. Earlier in June, Men’s Wearhouse board fired its founder and biggest shareholder, George Zimmer, blaming him that he was forcing the board to make the company private. The offer of $48 a share implied a premium of 42% over Men’s Wearhouse closing stock price on Sept. 17, a day before when Jos. A. Bank privately pitched the offer to Men’s Wearhouse executives over a phone call.
McKesson in Advanced Stage of Talks to Buy German Company Celesio
According to the Wall Street Journal, McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK) is in final stage of talks with Franz Haniel & Cie to acquire its drug distribution unit, Celesio, in a deal worth more than $ 5 billion. Founded in 1835, Stuttgart based Celesio supplies drugs to 65,000 pharmacies and hospitals, daily with nearly 130,000 pharmaceutical products. McKesson has offered about 22 euro per share, which translates in to 3.74 billion euro ($ 5.08 billion), a premium of 30% over the stock’s most recent closing price.
Wolverine World Wide Beats Q3 Estimates, Lifts Full-Year Earnings Guidance
Casual footwear and apparel maker, Wolverine World Wide Inc. (NYSE: WWW) said on Tuesday that fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 66% as revenue continued to show an improvement, aided by the acquisition of Collective Brands, last year. Shares edged up as both adjusted earnings and revenue topped analysts’ consensus estimate, according to a data compiled by Thomson Reuters. The maker of Hush Puppies and Merrell shoes also lifted its projections for full-year adjusted earnings. The Company now expects earnings to be in the range of $2.73 to $2.83 a share, which is in-line with Wall Street’s estimates. However, the revenue outlook was narrowed to $2.71 billion to $2.73 billion from $2.7 billion to $2.775 billion.
Cooper Tire & Rubber’s $2.5 Billion Proposed acquisition in Jeopardy
The proposed $2.5 billion takeover deal between Copper Tire and Rubber Company (NYSE: CTB) and India’s Apollo Tyres is in trouble. The management from both companies got involved in some heated arguments over the price issue over the weekend. After the deal received an approval from Cooper’s shareholders few days ago, some labor related issues have cropped up, which might delay the transaction. Apollo believes that sorting labor related issues at Cooper’s china facility and the U.S., result in substantial costs. Hence, the Indian tire company feels that a price cut is warranted. However, Cooper disagrees with the contention. Meanwhile, Cooper has also filed a case against Apollo in the U.S. court on Friday, urging the court to force Apollo complete the deal in a timely manner.
Time Warner Cable to acquire DukeNet Communications
Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) announced on Monday that it has agreed to acquire DukeNet Communications in an all-cash deal estimated at $600 million. The deal also assumes repayments of debt. The acquisition will help Time Warner Cable to expand its internet service business for its institutional customers. Charlotte based DukeNet, is currently owned by Duke Energy (50% stake) while the remaining stake is held by Alinda Capital Partners, an investment firm, which focuses in infrastructure projects. DukeNet provides high-capacity bandwidth services to data centers, wireless carriers, and other businesses and government organizations in North Carolina and South Carolina along with five other states, located in the Southeast.
Jana Partners Reports 13.5% Stake in Outerwall
Activist investor, Jana Partners LLC unveiled through its regulatory filing on Friday that it now holds a stake of 13.5% in Outerwall Inc. (NASDAQ: OUTR), formerly known as Coinstar Inc., adding that it plans to discuss strategic options with the management, which includes a possible sale of Redbox video rental Kiosks business. Shares of Outwerwall rallied about 9.50% on Friday. Jana Partners, founded by Barry Rosenstein, said in a regulatory filing that it believes the stock is trading below its potential.