U.S. Movers: AIG, Abercrombie, HP, Heinz, Safeway, Washington Post

Mukesh Buch
22 Feb, 2013
New York City

AIG fourth quarter net swung to a loss and Abercrombie & Fitch climbed more than two-fold. Hewlett-Packard first quarter net plunged 16% and said no plans to break up. Heinz third quarter net jumped 5% and Washington Post posted quarterly net swung to a loss.

[R]10:05 AM New York – AIG fourth quarter net swung to a loss and Abercrombie & Fitch climbed more than two-fold. Hewlett-Packard first quarter net plunged 16% and said no plans to break up. Heinz third quarter net jumped 5% and Washington Post posted quarterly net swung to a loss.[/R]

American International Group, Inc. ((AIG)) climbed 3.8% or $1.42 to $38.70 after the insurance company reported net premiums written in the fourth quarter ending in December fell to $7.81 billion from $7.85 billion in the same period of last year. Net loss in the quarter swung to $3.96 billion or $2.68 a diluted share compared to net income of $21.5 billion or $11.31 a share a year ago.

During the quarter, the Department of the Treasury completed public offering of its remaining shares of AIG common stock for proceeds of approximately $7.6 billion.

In December, the company sold its remaining stake of about 1.65 billion shares of AIA group and during the month it’s entered into agreement to sell up to 90% stake in ILFC to an investor group.

AIG property casualty reported an operating loss in the quarter of $945 million and commercial insurance operating loss of $857 million. AIG life and retirement reported operating income of $1.1 billion.

The insurance company said as of quarter ended assets under management were $290.4 billion.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ((ANF)) declined 4.1% or $2.06 to $46.99 after the specialty retailer said total revenues in the fourth quarter ending in December surged 11% to $1.47 billion from $1.33 billion in the same period of last year. Net income in the quarter climbed more than two-fold to $157.2 million or $1.95 a diluted share compared to $45.8 million or 52 cents a share a year ago earlier.

The retailer said gross profit for the quarter jumped 18% to $930.7 million.

Comparable sales for the quarter were flat for the U.S. with comparable store sales slid 1% and comparable direct to consumer sales rose 5%. International comparable sales for the quarter decreased 3%.

Total international sales in the quarter increased 34% to $492.2 million and total direct-to-consumer sales increased 26% to $266.4 million.

Gardner Denver, Inc. ((GDI)) jumped 3.4% or $2.48 to $69.95 after the industrial machinery maker stated sales in the fourth quarter ending in December slipped 4% to $589.7 million from $613.7 million in the same period of last year. Net income in the quarter dropped 11% to $69.1 million or $1.40 a diluted share compared to $77.4 million or $1.52 a share a year ago quarter.

For the quarter, engineered products group revenue declined 10% to $263.3 million and industrial products group revenue rose 1% to $326.4 million.

For the full year, diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $4.25 to $4.50 and diluted earnings per share for the first quarter are between 90 cents and $1.

Hewlett-Packard Company ((HPQ)) soared 7.6% or $1.28 to $18.38 after the computer peripherals maker reported revenues in the first quarter ending in January declined 6% to $28.36 billion from $29.96 billion in the same period of last year. Net earnings in the quarter plunged 16% to $1.23 billion or 63 cents a diluted share compared to $1.47 billion or 73 cents a share a year ago.

In the fourth quarter HP reported loss of a $6.85 billion.

""We have no plans to break up the company"" ""better together"" Margaret Whitman president and chief executive officer said in a conference call and added “I feel quite strongly, we are better and stronger together”. She reiterated as a part of company''s ""better together"" strategy.

There were rumors in past few weeks that board plan for break up.

HP said revenue from personal system segment in the quarter dropped 8% and revenue from printing segment slipped 5%. Enterprise group revenue decreased 4% and services revenue declined 7%. Software revenue fell 2% in the first quarter.

For the second quarter of 2013, the company estimates GAAP diluted earnings per share to be in the range of 38 cents to 40 cents and for the year, diluted earnings per share in the range of $2.30 to $2.50.

H. J. Heinz Company ((HNZ)) rose 9 cents to $72.28 after the food products maker stated sales in the third quarter ending on January 27 grew 2% to $2.93 billion from $2.87 billion in the same period of last year. Net income in the quarter increased 5% to $269.5 million or 83 cents a diluted share compared to $284.7 million or 88 cents a share a year ago period.

Heinz noted global ketchup organic sales growth delivered 4.2% mainly driven by strong performance in Russia, Latin America and Canada.

Gross profit climbed 7.1% to $1.11 billion and margin jumped 170 basis points to 37.7%. Operating income soared 9.7% to $468 million.

During the quarter, the boards approved plan to divest Shanghai LongFong Foods, business in China.

On February 14, the Heinz entered into merger agreement with investment consortium Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital and receives $72.50 in cash, a 20% premium for each share. Transaction valued at $28 billion and expected to close in the third quarter of this year.

Safeway Inc. ((SWY)) gained 11 cents to $23.08 after the food and drug retailer said revenues in the fourth quarter ending on December 29 rose 1% to $13.77 billion from $13.60 billion in the same period of last year. Net earnings in the quarter surged 13% to $244 million or $1.02 a diluted share compared to $215.6 million or 67 cents a share a year ago.

The retailer reported gross profit in the quarter of $3.65 billion, sharply dropped by 21 basis points to 26.50% but operating profit margin improved to 39 basis points.

The Washington Post Company ((WPO)) slipped 41 cents to $411.99 after the education and media stated revenue in the fourth quarter ending in December fell 1% to $1.05 billion from $1.04 billion in the same period of last year. Net loss in the quarter swung to $45.4 million or $6.57 a diluted share compared to net income of $61.7 million or $8.03 a share a year ago period.

The company said education division revenue in 2012 declined 9% to $2.20 billion and Kaplan reported operating loss of $105.4 million.

Newspaper publishing division revenue for the year dropped 7% to $581.7 million and operating loss of $53.7 million.

Revenue for the television broadcasting division soared 25% to $399.7 million and operating income surged 64% to $191.6 million.

Cable television division revenue increased 4% to $787.1 million and operating income fell 1% to $154.6 million.

In the fourth quarter the company sold its 49% stake in Bowater Mersey Paper Company for a nominal amount and no gain or loss was recorded as investment balance had been written-down to zero.