the bottomline
BENTONVILLE:
Walmart on Thursday reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $1.75 billion.
On a per-share basis, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said it had net income of 58 cents. Earnings, adjusted to extinguish debt and for non-recurring costs, came to $1 per share.
The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 97 cents per share. (AP)
SAN JOSE:
Shares of Cisco Systems Inc rose in after-hours trading Wednesday after the internet gear maker reported better-than-expected earnings and forecast revenue growth after two years of decline.
The San Jose, California-based company reported fiscal first-quarter profit of $2.39 billion, up from $2.32 billion a year ago.
Cisco said its earnings adjusted for non-recurring costs and stock option expense, were 61 cents per share in the latest quarter, beating expectations of 60 cents per share, according to Zacks Investment Research. (AP)
LOS ANGELES:
Viacom delivered an improved financial performance for its fiscal fourth quarter despite a drop in cable affiliate revenue and a $59 million hit on the Paramount side from the collapse of its film financing deal with China’s Huahua.
Viacom topped analysts expectations in deliver revenue of $3.3 billion for the quarter, up 3% from the yearago quarter. Adjusted earnings per share of 77 cents, up 12%, came in lower than the consensus forecast of 86 cents, but that did not factor in the expense incurred by the termination of the film financing deal.
In reporting earnings for the company’s fiscal fourth quarter and full year, Viacom CEO Bob Bakish emphasized the improvements to the balance sheet compared to this time last year, just before he took the reins as CEO. (RTRS)
NEW YORK: Emerson Electric again boosted its buyout offer for Rockwell Automation, adding about $1.4 billion to entice the industrial automation company.
Rockwell Automation said Thursday it is reviewing the unsolicited offer.
The new bid is worth $225 per share, consisting of $135 per share in cash and $90 per share in Emerson stock. The total value is about $29 billion, the St. Louis company said. (AP)
NEW YORK:
Best Buy Co on Thursday reported a boost in thirdquarter profit and sales, but its results and outlook fell short of Wall Street expectations.
The consumer electronics retailer’s shares fell $3.62, or 6.3 percent, to $53.68 in morning trading.
Best Buy has been working to better compete with rivals in an increasingly online shopping world. Like most retailers, it is struggling against Amazon.com and that company’s expansion of services and products. (AP)
NEW YORK: Time Inc is considering
a sale to fellow publisher Meredith Corp., according to media reports.
The New York Times initially reported that the New York-based publisher of Time and People is involved in a new round of negotiations with Meredith, the publisher of Family Circle and Better Homes and Gardens.
The report, based on anonymous sources, also says that billionaire brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch are backing Meredith’s offer with more than $500 million in equity. Meredith is based in Des Moines, Iowa.
Time and Meredith both declined comment on the reports. (AP)
LONDON:
Britain’s Royal Mail reported 250 million pounds ($328.7 million) in half-year adjusted profit before tax, down slightly, while revenue edged up 2 percent helped by its European parcels business.
Profit for the 26 weeks to Sept. 24 fell from 252 million pounds a year earlier, the postal and parcel delivery company said.
Revenue rose to 4.83 billion pounds from 4.58 billion. (RTRS)
BERLIN:
Industrial conglomerate Siemens has announced plans to cut about 6,900 jobs worldwide at its power, gas and drives divisions, half of them in Germany.
Munich-based Siemens said Thursday that it plans to cut the jobs “over a period of several years.” The company had said when it presented its quarterly earnings last week that profit at its power and gas unit had declined sharply and it expected “painful cuts” in that business. (AP)
SYDNEY:
Australian energy giant Santos said Thursday it had knocked back a bid by a US-based investment firm worth almost Aus$9.5 billion (US$7.2 billion), sending its share price soaring.
Santos, a major Australian natural gas company with interests in Papua New Guinea, said it received a proposal from Harbour Energy at Aus$4.55 per share on August 14.
“The board rejected the approach on the basis that the indicative price was inadequate and the sources of funds were uncertain,” Santos said in a statement to the stock market.
“Santos confirms that it is not currently engaged in discussions with, and has not received a current proposal from, Harbour Energy regarding a change of control transaction for Santos.” (AFP)
SYDNEY:
A second major Australian bank has flagged “weaknesses” in its anti-money laundering controls, months after the financial intelligence agency took the country’s largest firm to court over alleged breaches of the laws.
AUSTRAC filed a civil case against Australia’s biggest bank, the Commonwealth, in August for alleged “serious and systemic non-compliance” over what it said were 50,000 instances of misconduct.
The case sparked renewed calls for a royal commission to investigate the big banks, and led the Commonwealth Bank — the nation’s largest company by market capitalisation — to announce that chief executive Ian Narev would retire next year. (AFP)