U.S. Movers: H&R Block, Navistar, VeriFone, Walgreen

Mukesh Buch
06 Sep, 2012
New York City

H&R Block first quarter net loss narrowed and Men

[R]10:50 AM New York – H&R Block first quarter net loss narrowed and Men’s Wearhouse net increased 9%. Navistar net plunged 94% and plans to cut costs. VeriFone net jumped 43%. Walgreen sales dropped in August and in fourth quarter.[/R]

H&R Block, Inc. ((HRB)) decreased 1.4% or 23 cents to $16 after the tax and banking service provider reported total revenues in the first quarter ending in July slid 4% to $96 million from $101 million in the same period of last year. Net loss in the quarter narrowed to $106 million or 38 cents per diluted share compared to $119 million or 39 cents per share a year ago.

The company said pretax loss in the quarter improved by 9% to $28 million and declined 14% of operating expenses.

Navistar International Corporation ((NAV)) surged 12.5% or $2.56 to $22.97 after the automobile company reported revenues in the third quarter ending in July slipped 6% to $3.32 billion from $3.54 billion in the same period of last year. Net income in the quarter plunged 94% to $84 million or $1.22 per diluted share compared to $1.4 billion or $18.24 per share a year ago period.

The company plans to reduce workforce to generate $70 million to $80 million in annual savings and reduce the material costs, as a part of its restructuring.

The Men’s Wearhouse, Inc. ((MW)) climbed 15.4% or $4.89 to $36.73 after the specialty retailer reported total revenues in the second quarter ending on July 28 grew 1% to $662.3 million from $655.5 million in the same period of last year. Comparable store sales increased 4.4%.

Net earnings in the quarter advanced 9% to $59.4 million or $1.15 per diluted share compared to $57.1 million or $1.09 per share a year ago earlier.

The retailer expects total sales in third quarter to grow between 11.3% and 11.8% and in fourth quarter between 8.8% and 9.3% and for fiscal year between 4.8% and 5.6%.

For the fiscal year, the retailer expects GAAP diluted earnings per share in a range of $2.74 to $2.80, an increase of 15% to 18% and for the third quarter earnings per share between 95 cents and 98 cents, an increase of 20% to 24%.

UTi Worldwide Inc. ((UTIW)) soared 9.3% or $1.26 to $14.71 after the logistic company reported total revenues in the second quarter ending in July slumped 11% to $1.16 billion from $1.30 billion in the same period of last year. Net income in the quarter dropped 17% to $18.9 million or 18 cents per diluted share compared to $22.9 million or 22 cents per share a year ago earlier.

The company said airfreight impacted more than other modes with tonnage falling 11% from second quarter of last year.

VeriFone Systems, Inc. ((PAY)) declined 10.4% or $3.68 to $31.70 after the payment solution provider reported revenues in the third quarter ending in July climbed 54% to $489 million from $317 million in the same period of last year. Net income in the quarter jumped 43% to $37.7 million or 34 cents per diluted share compared to $26.3 million or 28 cents per share a year ago.

The VeriFone expected fiscal 2013 non-GAAP revenue of $2.05 billion to $2.1 billion and net income per diluted share of $3.25 to $3.30.

Walgreen Company ((WAG)) slipped 1.1% or 43 cents to $35.45 after the drugstore chain reported August sales decreased 4.5% to $5.85 billion and comparable stores sales declined 8.2% but basket size gained 1.6%.

Total pharmacy sales slumped 7.2% and comparable sales dropped 12.4% in the month. Comparable pharmacy sales were negatively impacted by 7.9 percentage points and by 10.7 percentage points for not being part of Express Scripts network in August. Total prescriptions filled at comparable stores decreased 6.8%.

For the fourth quarter ending in August, total sales slipped 4.9% to $17.08 billion from $17.97 billion in last year’s quarter.

Comparable store sales plummeted 8.7% and front-end comparable store sales slid 1.3%. Prescriptions filled at comparable stores decreased 8% and comparable pharmacy sales dropped 12.6%.

For fiscal 2012, total sales fell 0.8% to $71.64 billion from $72.18 billion in last year and comparable store sales for fiscal year slipped 3.6%.