AIG Profit Jumps, Buys Back $8 B Shares

Elena
02 Mar, 2007
New York City

U.S. stocks started trading in the negative, dragged by the rallying Japanese yen vs. the dollar and more unfavorable news for supbrime lenders. American International Group helped limit losses, rising 2% after the insurance giant reported a jump in net income, an $8 billion share buyback and dividend plan. Subprime lender New Century Financial fell 2.5% as it delayed the filing of its quarterly profit.

[R]9:45AM Wall Street opened steeply lower. Subprime lenders weighed.[/R]
U.S. stocks started trading in the negative, dragged by the rallying Japanese yen vs. the dollar and more unfavorable news for supbrime lenders. American International Group ((AIG)) helped limit losses, rising 2% after the insurance giant reported a jump in net income, an $8 billion share buyback and dividend plan. Fueling jitters about the subprime mortgage market, New Century Financial Corp. ((NEW)) fell 2.5% as it delayed the filing of its quarterly profit.

In the tech sector, Dell ((DELL)) erased pre-market losses to gain nearly 1% as investors looked past a disappointing earnings report from the personal-computer maker. Novel ((NVL)) was a notable decliner in the sector, falling 4.5% after reporting an unexpected quarterly loss and a 5% revenue decline. Immersion ((IMMR)) soared 36% after the maker of touch sensation technology settled a patent dispute with Sony in a deal that will have its products used in PlayStation products. In the first hour of trading Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 19.62, or 0.16%, to 12,214.72. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 3.72, or 0.27%, at 1,399.45 and the Nasdaq composite index was off 6.80, or 0.28%, at 2,398.41. Bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.54% from 4.55% late Thursday.


[R]9:00AM U.S. stock futures turned sharply lower on weak dollar.[/R]
U.S. stock futures pointed to a steeply lower opening on Friday, hurt by concerns over the dollar''s weakness versus the Japanese yen, and a downbeat outlook from Dell. Overseas markets made a mixed performance. The Shanghai Composite climbed 1.2%, recovering from the heavy drop, while the Nikkei 225 slipped 1.4% in Tokyo. European stock markets reversed from earlier gains to turn negative.

Among pre-market highlights, computer maker ((DELL)) traded 3% down after reporting 33% profit decline in Q4. Again in the tech sector, Novell ((NOVL)) shares dipped 3.9% in the pre-open after posting an unexpected quarterly loss and a 5% revenue decline. The retailers are expected to come under pressure, as Gap ((GPS)) reported a 35% profit decline, reflecting weak sales and executive shake-ups. The company lowered its earnings forecast. On the side of the gainers, Dow component American International Group ((AIG)) added 1% after the insurance giant reported higher net income. The company also announced a buyback plan which will allow AIG to repurchase up to $8 billion in stock. AIG said it will lift its common stock dividend nearly 20% a year. S&P 500 futures dropped 9.50 points to 1,395.40 and Nasdaq 100 futures slumped 22.75 points to 1,735.00. Dow industrials futures slid 77 points to 12,175.


[R]8:30AM Asia finishes lower on Friday with Japanese stocks continuing the slide.[/R]
Asian markets finished mostly lower on Friday. The Nikkei 225 stock index lost 1.35%, to finish at 17,217.93. Sony dived 5.5% on weakness in the dollar versus the yen. The electronics company agreed overnight to end a $100-million patent battle with U.S. Immersion over vibration technology for game controllers and other products. Sanyo Eletric fell 2.6% on news that Lenovo Group and the Japanese consumer-electronics maker are recalling about 205,000 batteries used in Lenovo ThinkPad notebook computers.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index in China gained 1.2% to close at 2,831.53. Among the most actively traded companies, property developer China Vanke advanced 2.7% after shedding 5% in the previous session. Citic Securities, which was down 5.6% Thursday, surged 5.5% and Air China added 4%, regaining most of the 5.2% loss a day earlier.

The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose 0.49% to 19,442.01. China Mobile rose 0.5% after investment bank UBS raised its target price for China biggest mobile operator by subscribers. China Unicom was up 1.6% and China Netcom climbed 1.7% after both fell 8% during the past four sessions.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, slipped 0.2% to 1,414.47, the Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange shed 0.1%, to close at 7,670.77, while Australian stocks suffered their fourth straight day of losses as the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index dropped 0.4% to 5,786.0.


[R]8:15 AM Dell reported 33% profit drop in Q4.[/R]
Dell Inc. ((DELL)) reported disappointing Q4 results, blaming weak sales of laptops and notebooks. The computer maker posted 33% net income drop to $673 million, or 30 cents per share, compared with $1.01 billion, or 43 cents per share a year earlier, as revenue fell 4% to $14.4 billion. The biggest revenue shortfall was in mobility products and desktop PCs, accounting for 58% of Dell''s revenue. Mobility products, including notebook computers, fell 2% to $3.8 billion. Desktop PCs posted an 18% drop in units year-over-year. However, quarterly earnings beat analyst expectations for earnings of 29 cents per share. Although Dell once again released weak financial results, it looks determined to solve the numerous problems and gain its once strong positions back, as well as its customers’ confidence. Dell also mentioned several turnaround plans, including streamlining operations, shortening product development cycles and developing new approaches to manufacturing and distribution. The computer giant still faces an accounting SEC probe, customer service complaints, several shareholder lawsuits and stiff competition from rivals. Dell’s shares slipped 3.1% in pre-market trading.


[R]6:30AM European markets were lower Friday on Adecco, Mediaset.[/R]
European markets were lower on Friday. Frankfurt Xetra Dax was 0.5% lower at 6,609.7 the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.6% to 5,425.07 and London FTSE 100 slipped 0.2% to 6,102.

Advancers

Philips, the Dutch electronics group, led technology stocks higher. The company shed more than 8% over the previous three sessions after a trade dispute with Taiwan over recordable compact disc patents. The shares surged 2.5%.

UK supermarket Tesco gained 0.9% after investment group Berkshire Hathaway said it had taken a 2.9% stake. Air Liquide, the French industrial gases group, gained 1.7% after ING raised its price target following the group strong five-year outlook.

Decliners

Mediaset, the Italian broadcaster, fell 5.9% after downgrades from Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan and Citigroup after reporting on Thursday that its 2006 net income profit fell on lower advertising revenues. Merrill Lynch lowered its rating to neutral.

Staffing company Adecco declined 4% after it posted revenue growth a bit below forecasts, with a 23% increase in Q4 net profit to 212 million euros largely due to a one-time tax benefit. Lagardere shed 5 % as investors corrected a 6.7 % rise in the previous session, on what was thought by dealers to have been an erroneous trade.

Oil and gold

Oil prices gained Friday on concerns about tightening gasoline supplies. Crude oil for April delivery rose 21 cents to $62.21 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by noon in Europe. Brent crude for April gained 37 cents to $62.48 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. Gold opened Friday at a bid price of $662.30 a troy ounce, down from $670.10 late Thursday.

Currencies

The euro lost a little more ground Friday against the dollar, which built on gains made as positive U.S. economic data helped calm traders in US. The euro bought $1.3164 in morning European trading, down from $1.3198 in New York late Thursday. The British pound fell to $1.9542 from $1.9605. The dollar edged up to 117.69 Japanese yen from 117.58 yen.