Earnings - 7th July 2008

5:46PM VSE awarded subcontract to support Army night vision and electronic sensor directorate (VSEC) 25.18 +0.26 : Co was awarded a subcontract in June 2008 as part of the winning team selected to support the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate. The new prime contract has a contract ceiling of ~$487 mln, and VSE will be eligible to compete for tasks under the new award.
5:45PM Energetics wins DoE contract to support federal energy programs (VSEC) 25.18 -0.06 : Energetics, a wholly owned subsidiary of VSE (VSEC) announced a five-year contract award for $85 mln it will share with joint venture partner New West Technologies, LLC. The contract will provide technical, engineering, analytical and management support services for all Department of Energy (DoE) research and development programs in energy efficiency and renewable energy. These R&D programs address solar energy, wind and hydropower, geothermal energy, biomass energy, industrial technologies, FreedomCAR and vehicle technologies, hydrogen, fuel cells, and infrastructure technologies, building technologies, weatherization, water technologies, and Federal energy management.

11:44AM Cash America second quarter to exceed initial earnings estimates (CSH) 33.49 +1.36 : Co announces that mgmt believes that its second quarter earnings per share will come in well above its previously provided guidance for the second quarter ended June 30, 2008. Co's pawn lending business contributed to the higher-than-expected results as rev from pawn loans and increased gross profit dollars on the sale of merchandise exceeded expectations. In addition, co's online cash advance product offering experienced strong rev growth and lower-than-expected loan losses. These elements are projected to generate earnings above the guidance levels published in the co's April 24, 2008 press release. CSH had previously reported in its earnings release for the first quarter of 2008 that it expected second quarter 2008 earnings per share to be between $0.51-0.54. Co's updated expectation for the second quarter of 2008 is now between $0.62-0.64 (consensus $0.53), up over 44% from $0.43 earned in the second quarter of 2007. (POPPED)

9:57AM Mechel Steel sees consolidated net revenue in the first quarter of 2008 is expected to exceed $2.3 bln vs $2.77 bln single analyst est (MTL) 45.00 +2.57 : Co announces consolidated net revenue in the first quarter of 2008 is expected to exceed $2.3 bln (single anlayst est is $2.77 bln), an increase of more than 60% when compared with consolidated net revenue of $1.4 bln in the first quarter of 2007. Co says consolidated net income in the first quarter of 2008 is expected to be about $500 mln, an increase of approx 160% when compared with consolidated net income of $190 mln in the first quarter of 2007. Consolidated gross profit is expected to exceed $1.0 bln, an increase of 97% when compared with gross profit of $545 mln in the corresponding period of 2007, and consolidated operating income is expected to exceed $630 mln, an increase of approx 100% over consolidated operating income of $302 mln in the first quarter of 2007. Co says consolidated EBITDA is expected to exceed $850 mln for the first quarter of 2008 compared with consolidated EBITDA of $340.0 mln in the first quarter of 2007. Consolidated EBITDA margin is expected to increase to over 36.5% in the first quarter of 2008 compared to 24% in the 2007 first quarter.

7:34AM Bankrate issues Q2 guidance, lowers Y08 guidance (RATE) 33.01 : Co issues guidance for Q2 (Jun), sees Q2 (Jun) revs slightly above $40 mln vs. $41.02 mln First Call consensus; co sees EBITDA of $12.3-12.7 mln. Co issues downside guidance for FY08 (Dec), sees FY08 (Dec) revs of $164-169 mln, compared to previous guidance of $167-172 mln, vs. $170.86 mln consensus; co sees EBITDA to $54-58 mln, compared to previous guidance of $64-68 mln. "Our business remains fundamentally solid. However, the global problems in the financial sector have surely had an impact on our display advertising business and we have continued to experience softness in display advertising from several of our largest financial advertisers. At this time we don't sense that the display advertising environment is getting worse, but there has been little improvement to date. The rest of our business remains solid. Cost-Per-Click, "CPC" revenue for the quarter was up 30%, and our deposit, insurance and credit card business continue to do well." "With the softness in display advertising expected to continue, we thought it was prudent to reduce our guidance to reflect that current condition. The revised guidance also contemplates a continued solid performance from our CPC, lead and print businesses."

7:32AM Virtusa issues Q1 guidance, revs below consensus (VRTU) 10.17 : Co issues guidance for Q1 (Jun), sees GAAP EPS of $0.00-0.03, may not be comparable to $0.15 First Call consensus; sees Q1 (Jun) revs of 42-42.5 vs. $45.50 mln consensus. Co said "The principal reason for our revenue and earnings shortfall is that our business at British Telecommunications was negatively impacted late in the quarter. We had reason to believe that we would obtain budgetary allocation for certain engagements at BT and, therefore, we commenced work on these projects. However, the budget allocations for these projects were not approved. Virtusa remains a strategic IT services provider to BT, our largest client, and we continue to maintain a strong relationship with them... Our platforming approach and differentiated service offerings continue to be well received in the marketplace."

6:45AM ATS Medical issues upside Q208 revenue guidance (ATSI) 2.10 : Co issues upside guidance for Q2 (Jun), sees Q2 (Jun) revs of $16.7-16.9 mln vs. $15.73 mln First Call consensus. Revenues from products and services other than the co's mechanical heart valves are expected to exceed $6.0 mln, an increase of approx 18% over the previous $5.1 mln set in Q108.

6:39AM Quicksilver Resources to acquire Fort Worth Basin Barnett Shale assets for $1.3 bln in cash and stock (KWK) 35.60 : Co announces that it has entered into purchase and sale agreements with various private parties including Chief Resources LLC, Hillwood Oil & Gas, L.P. and Collins and Young, LLLC to acquire producing, leasehold, royalty and midstream assets, associated with the Barnett Shale formation in northern Tarrant and southern Denton counties of Texas, for $1.307 bln. The acquired properties currently have net production of approx 45 MMcf per day. Quicksilver estimates that these properties contain more than one trln cubic feet of recoverable natural gas resources net to the co including approx 350 Bcf of proved reserves, of which approx 40% are proved developed, and more than 650 Bcf of additional resource potential on 13,000 net acres. Consideration in the transaction includes $1 bln in cash and $307 mln in Quicksilver Resources common stock. (Catalyst to Pop in future)