Client News Release
Earnings Preview: Unilever to report Q3 earnings
City of Industry, CA --(www.FinancialNewsUSA.com)-- 11/03/2009 - Earnings industry news provided by Financial News USA. AMSTERDAM (AP) -- Unilever NV, the maker of consumer products such as Dove soaps and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, reports earnings for its third quarter before the market opens Thursday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.
OVERVIEW: Unilever has suffered during the downturn as consumers favored cheaper products over the company's more expensive name brands. Unilever responded by cutting prices, which helped keep sales volumes high and preserve market share -- but ate into profits.
Chief Executive Officer Paul Polman, who took the top job at the company in January, has promised Unilever will grow sales without sacrificing profit margins further.
The bar has been set high for Unilever as major U.S. competitors like Procter & Gamble, Colgate and Kellogg all beat analyst expectations with their earnings reports last week, mostly due to better than expected sales. [Read the full article]
MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As previously announced, The Progressive Corporation will host a one-hour conference call on Wednesday, November 11, 2009, beginning at 9:00 a.m. eastern time. On November 9, 2009, Progressive expects to file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission and post its third quarter 2009 Shareholders Report,
including the Letter to Shareholders from its President and CEO, Glenn Renwick, to its Web site at www.progressive.com/annualreport. Under Progressive's conference call format, management will not make detailed comments in addition to these published reports, but will respond to questions at that time.
Simultaneous broadcasts of the conference call will be provided by phone and online. [Read the full article]
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Archer Daniels Midland Co. said Tuesday that its first-quarter profit tumbled 53 percent as the global recession dragged down demand for crops and ethanol, but demand is improving in some key markets.
CEO Patricia Woertz said sales improved from the first half of 2009, and the company was seeing some stronger demand as the U.S. economy pulls out of recession. "Earnings were significantly better than the second half of fiscal 2009," Woertz said in a statement.
The company said it earned $496 million, or 77 cents per share, compared with $1.04 billion, or $1.62 per share, last year.
The results widely beat Wall Street expectations, with analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecasting a profit of 57 cents per share.
Revenue fell 29 percent, to $14.92 billion, from $21.16 billion, dragged down by declines in commodity costs. But sales volumes remained steady. Analyst expected revenue of $17.92 billion. [Read the full article]
MIAMI, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) today announced earnings for the third quarter of 2009 and provided guidance for the fourth quarter and full year.
Third quarter 2009 net income was $230.4 million, or $1.07 per share, compared to net income of $411.9 million, or $1.92 per share in 2008. The results were better than the company's most recent guidance of $0.95 to $1.00 per share, driven primarily by the strength of close-in bookings. Net Yields for the third quarter decreased 16.5% versus 2008, somewhat better than the company's previous guidance of down approximately 18%. Net Cruise Costs per APCD ("NCC") for the third quarter decreased 10.0% versus 2008. NCC, excluding bunker for the third quarter declined 3.8% versus 2008. The company projects net yields to decline 7% to 8% in the fourth quarter and approximately 14% for the full year. [Read the full article]
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