Earnings - 22nd Dec 2008

4:07PM Red Hat beats by $0.06, reports revs in-line (RHT) 11.93 -0.44 : Reports Q3 (Nov) earnings of $0.24 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.06 better than the First Call consensus of $0.18; revenues rose 22.1% year/year to $165.3 mln vs the $166.4 mln consensus.

11:57AM PPG Industries announces Q4 2008 earnings per share will likely be in the range of $0.35 to $0.45 vs $0.67 consensus (PPG) 39.58 -1.46 : Co issues downside guidance for Q4 (Dec), sees EPS of $0.35-0.45 vs. $0.67 First Call consensus. The lower level of expected earnings reflects the accelerating rate of decline in the global economy that has emerged in the fourth quarter 2008. "Market softness seen initially in the U.S. industrial markets is now prevalent on a global basis. Our businesses that serve these industrial end-markets are experiencing significant volume deterioration, as our customers react to lower consumer demand and tight credit markets by curtailing their production and reducing their inventory levels... As a result, in addition to the restructuring actions announced in September of this year, we have taken additional cost-reduction measures during the quarter, including lowering our operating rates and furloughing workers. We will continue to monitor economic activity levels as we enter the first quarter 2009 to determine what further cost-cutting actions may be warranted... PPG has redoubled its focus on cash in the fourth quarter, seasonally a stronger cash-flow quarter, as we are managing our working capital and capital spending aggressively," Hernandez said. "Currently, we have approximately $800 mln cash on hand, up about $300 mln from September 30, and our commercial paper borrowings total just over $200 mln."

10:06AM CVS Caremark confirms earnings guidance (CVS) 26.15 -0.74 : Co reaffirms guidance for FY08 (Dec), sees EPS of $2.42-2.47 vs. $2.44 First Call consensus. "There is no question that the economy continues to be difficult and consumers are reacting with increasing caution... Our total same store sales for October grew 4.3%, and in November were up 6.1%. It appears that December's comps will be well short of those levels. Nevertheless, through careful margin and cost management, we expect to be able to deliver results within our previously announced earnings range for 2008."

8:34AM Aaron Rents raises FY09 EPS guidance; reaffirms Q408 and FY08 EPS guidance (RNT) 28.66 : Co raises guidance for FY09 (Dec), sees EPS of $1.70-1.85 (previous $1.65-1.80) vs. $1.74 First Call consensus. "We expect same store revenues for the fourth quarter to increase 5% to 7% compared to the fourth quarter of 2007," Robert Loudermilk, CEO, commented. "Our earnings guidance for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2008 is unchanged, with diluted EPS for the year expected to be in the range of $1.60 to $1.65, excluding gains from fourth quarter store sales and any gain or loss on the previous announced sale of the Aaron's Corporate Furnishings division." "We are altering our 2009 square footage growth plans somewhat, and expect to increase overall store growth next year approximately 5% to 9% over the store base at the end of 2008. This will be net store growth after opening a combination of Company-operated and franchised stores, less any opportunistic merging or disposition of stores. This rate of growth should allow us to improve margins as well as fund our expansion without the need to seek additional sources of capital. Due to the current strength of our business and our outlook for next year, we are increasing our earnings guidance for 2009 from previously expecting to achieve diluted earnings per share in the range of $1.65 to $1.80 to now expecting $1.70 to $1.85 per share."

8:03AM Walgreen misses by $0.05; cutting store opening rate (WAG) 26.08 : Reports Q1 (Nov) earnings of $0.41 per share, $0.05 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.46; revenues rose 6.6% year/year to $14.95 bln vs the $15.08 bln consensus. The company is also announcing plans to further reduce its organic store openings to a rate between 4.0 and 4.5 percent in 2010 and between 2.5 and 3.0 percent in 2011. This is a further reduction from plans announced last July to slow organic store openings to 5 percent by 2011. The company will continue to open new stores in strategic markets, on the best corners, and which offer the greatest rates of return. The new target growth rate will reduce capital expenditures through 2011 by approximately an additional $500 million beyond the $500 million capital expenditure savings announced last July.

7:39AM Dominion affirms 2008 guidance and lowers 2009 outlook (D) 34.98 : After the close, co reaffirmed guidance for FY08 (Dec), sees EPS of $3.10-3.15 vs. $3.12 First Call consensus. Co lowers guidance for FY09 (Dec), sees EPS of $3.20-3.30, down from $3.30-3.45, vs. $3.30 consensus.

7:36AM Steelcase reports Q3 (Nov) results; guides Q4 revs below consensus (SCS)5.73 : Reports Q3 (Nov) net of breakeven, includes a $27.5 million pre-tax charge related to a decrease in the cash surrender value of company-owned life insurance policies and $4.7 million of pre-tax restructuring costs, may not be comparable to the First Call consensus of $0.09; revenues fell 0.5% year/year to $881.3 mln vs the $805.2 mln consensus. Co issues guidance for Q4, sees EPS of ($0.04)-($0.10), ioncludes $9 mln charge, may not be comparable to $0.11 consensus; sees Q4 revs of $650-700 mln vs. $747.04 mln consensus.  Co said, "We believe that the slowing of the global economy and related uncertainty will lead to significant reduction in industry demand for the next several quarters... Accordingly, we have been preparing for a difficult year in fiscal 2010, but we believe the strength of our balance sheet will allow us to continue investing in growth initiatives that will further strengthen our leadership position coming out of this economic cycle."

Earnings - 29th Sept 2008

8:07AM Walgreen reports EPS in-line, revs in-line (WAG) 32.73 : Reports Q4 (Aug) earnings of $0.45 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.45; revenues rose 8.8% year/year to $14.6 bln vs the $14.67 bln consensus. Prescription sales, which accounted for 66% of sales in the quarter, climbed 7.9%. Adjusted for calendar shifts, prescription sales in comparable stores rose 2.8% in the quarter, while the number of prescriptions filled in comparable stores increased 0.6%. That compares to a 1.9% decrease in U.S. retail prescription volume (excluding Walgreens) during the same period, according to IMS Health and Walgreens figures. "Tough times are forcing people to make tough choices - delaying doctor visits and prescription use... Even with these challenges, our pharmacies are consistently performing ahead of the industry." Overall margins were negatively impacted by non-retail businesses, including specialty pharmacy, which have lower margins and are becoming a greater part of the total business. Retail pharmacy margins increased due to greater use of generics, while front end margins were essentially flat. Helping the front end was a shift toward higher margin items, including private brand products. Hurting margins were heavier than normal front end promotions.

6:44AM Cal-Maine Foods reports 1Q09 results (CALM) 37.91 : Reports Q1 (Aug) earnings of $0.47 per share, compared with $0.76 for the year-earlier period, and net sales of $206.9 mln, a 15.8% increase year/year. No First Call estimates are available. "Egg prices and total dozens sold were both up for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 compared with the same period last year. Demand for eggs was strong in both the retail and food service markets. However, our feed costs were dramatically higher and reduced the Company's earnings for the quarter compared with a year ago. Corn and soybean meal prices peaked in July, but have dropped substantially in the last few weeks. While estimates for the final crop yields vary widely, it is expected that feed prices will remain volatile and high for the year ahead. USDA statistics indicate that egg supply will remain flat for the next few months. All of Cal-Maine's operations continue to run smoothly."

Earnings - 23rd June 2008

7:10PM Brady sees FY09 EPS and revs above consensus (BRC) 36.97 -0.44 : Co guides FY09 in-line with consensus; Co sees FY09 EPS of $2.63-2.75 vs 2.68 consensus; sees revs of $1.56-1.59 bln vs $1.58 bln. Co says, "While we continue to believe that a target of 12 percent net income as a percentage of sales is still possible in our business, we do not believe it is realistic to think that the current economic climate will support sufficient core business growth needed to reach this by 2010 as discussed in prior communications. We will now be focused on delivering 10 to 15 percent earnings-per-share growth through the current business cycle."

6:02PM Mexco Energy reports Q4 EPS of $0.27 vs $0.10 in the prior year; revs grew 64.9% to $1.2 mln (MXC) 27.81 +0.23 :

4:31PM UPS sees Q2 EPS of $0.83-0.88, down from $0.97-1.04 vs $0.97 First Call consensus (UPS) 66.26 -0.11 : Slow U.S. economic growth and an unprecedented increase in the cost of fuel have resulted in lower-than-expected U.S. package volume and an accelerating contraction in the use of premium air products. In addition, the anemic U.S. economy is negatively impacting package volume into the United States, affecting results for the International segment. Performance in the Supply Chain & Freight segment is continuing to exceed expectations. (stock is currently halted)

11:59AM Rio Tinto PLC confirms 2008 iron ore price settlement (RTP) 468.31 -10.69 : Co confirms that its Iron Ore subsidiary Hamersley Iron reached agreement with China's Baosteel on the price for Hamersley iron ore deliveries for the contract year commencing April 1, 2008. Under this agreement, the new prices for Hamersley will be: Pilbara Blend Fines/ Yandicoogina Fines US cents 144.66 per dry metric tonne unit Pilbara Blend Lump US cents 201.69 per dry metric tonne unit. "The agreement reflects the continuing very strong demand in the market for Hamersley's products. The agreement builds on the valuation premium for Rio Tinto's Pilbara iron ore businesses, the importance of which is highlighted as we move towards our 320 and 420 mln tonne per annum goals from expected capacity of about 200 mln tonnes in 2008."

9:01AM China Security and Surveillance announces recent notable business developments and reiterates Q2 and FY08 rev and EPS estimates (CSR) 15.11 : Co announces recent notable business developments, with two new project wins in Beijing, Safe City Project updates in Kunming City and Yinchuan City, and a Strategic Partnership Memorandum with IBM Global Financing. Together, these two new projects in Beijing are valued at ~$8.0 mln. The co expects to begin realizing revenues from these two projects in the fourth quarter of 2008. In addition, the co is pleased to announce signing a Strategic Partnership Memorandum with IBM Global Financing, a division of IBM (IBM), to obtain lease financing facilities for Safe City projects within China. The co also reiterates its second quarter and full year of 2008 financial forecast. Co sees Q2 $0.36-0.38 vs $0.37 First Call consensus; revs $85-87 mln vs $86.33 mln First Call consensus and sees FY08 $1.59-1.76 vs $1.67 First Call consensus; sees revs $380-400 mln vs $392.84 mln First Call consensus.

8:36AM Kensey 2008 profit outlook below analyst estimates: Kensey Nash issues upside guidance for Q4, Q1, Y09; announces additional stock repurchase (KNSY) 32.66 : Co issues upside guidance for Q4 (Jun), sees EPS of $0.32-0.33, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.29 First Call consensus; sees Q4 (Jun) revs of $21-21.3 mln vs. $20.70 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1 (Sep), sees EPS of $0.34-0.36 vs. $0.32 consensus; sees Q1 (Sep) revs of $19.4-19.9 mln vs. $18.89 mln consensus. Co issues guidance for FY09 (Jun), sees EPS of $1.57-1.65 vs. $1.48 consensus; sees FY09 (Jun) revs of $86.7-89.0 mln vs. $88.95 mln consensus. Co announces that its board of directors has expanded its existing $25.0 mln stock repurchase program in order to provide the co with more flexibility to buy its own shares. The new program allows the co to repurchase up to an additional $10.0 mln of its issued and outstanding shares of common stock and has no expiration. "Our Biomaterials business, notably the orthopaedic segment, continued to outperform our target of 25% annual growth, which we provided at the start of this fiscal year. We completed the sale of our Endovascular business in the fourth quarter and are looking forward to a successful strategic relationship with Spectranetics."

8:21AM Megellan Midstream (MMP) raising Q2 and annual EPS guidance: Magellan Midstream assets remain fully operational despite Midwest flooding; Increases earnings guidance for quarter and year (MMP) 36.29 : Co announces that its refined petroleum products terminal and pipeline assets remain fully operational, despite flooding in certain Midwest areas. Based on operating results so far this year, mgmt is increasing its 2Q08 net income per unit guidance to $0.76 from $0.66 and vs. $0.68 consensus; and its annual guidance to $3.13 from $3.03 and vs. $2.84 consensus. Co states, while pipeline volumes are expected to be lower than previously forecasted, mgmt currently expects them to be in-line with 2007 volumes for both second quarter and full-year 2008. Higher shipments of liquefied petroleum gases are expected to offset lower refined products volumes, which are projected to decline about 3% during second quarter and 1% for the year compared to the related 2007 period primarily due to high fuel prices, the potential impact of recent wet conditions in the Midwest that could reduce farming diesel demand and higher ethanol blending. However, increases in transportation tariffs and higher profits from commodity-related activities are expected to benefit the quarter and year.

8:02AM Walgreen misses by $0.01, reports revs in-line (WAG) 35.07 : Reports Q3 (May) earnings of $0.58 per share, $0.01 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.59; revenues rose 9.6% year/year to $15.02 bln vs the $15.11 bln consensus.

6:28AM Bunge raises guidance for FY08 above consensus (BG) 122.17 : Co issues upside guidance for FY08 (Dec), sees EPS of $9.35-9.65 vs. $7.70 First Call consensus, prior guidance $7.10-7.40. Co cites better than expected performance in their agribusiness and fertilizer segments. Corn Products to be acquired by Bunge for $56/share