Walgreen Beats Expectations

Elena
25 Jun, 2007
New York City

Walgreen reported a better-than-expected 20% profit rise in Q3, lifted by a growing market share in its top products and an increase in prescription sales. The U.S. biggest drugstore chain earned $561.2 million, or 56 cents per share, up from $469.2 million, or 46 cents per share a year ago. Revenue rose 13% to $13.7 billion from $12.2 billion last year, but fell short of expectations. Analysts had been expecting a profit of 54 cents on revenue of about $13.8 billion. The stock lost 0.7%.

[R]9:45AM Wall Street opened above the flat line as bond yields declined amid 4-year low existing home sales.[/R]

U.S. stock markets opened above the flat line, as bond yields declined amid data showing that sales of existing homes hit a 4-year low in May, while the median home price fell for a record 10th month in a row.

The National Association of Realtors said that sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums dropped by 0.3 % to 5.99 million units in May, the slowest sales pace since June of 2003. The median home price fell 2.1% to $223,700 from a year ago. The data added to investor optimism that the Fed Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged.

A broker upgrade of General Motors also generated positive sentiment. Goldman Sachs raised its rating on the stock to buy from neutral, saying there was little downside for the company''s stock. GM ((GM)) shares jumped 3%.

On the earnings news front, Walgreen ((WAG)) rose 1% after reporting a better-than-expected 20% profit rise in Q3, lifted by a growing market share in its top products and an increase in prescription sales. The U.S. biggest drugstore chain earned $561.2 million, or 56 cents per share, up from $469.2 million, or 46 cents per share a year ago. Revenue rose 13% to $13.7 billion from $12.2 billion last year, but fell short of expectations. Analysts had been expecting a profit of 54 cents on revenue of about $13.8 billion.

In mid-morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 62.18, or 0.47%, to 13,422.44. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index rose 3.84, or 0.26%, to 1,506.40, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 4.62, or 0.18%, to 2,593.58. The 10-year Treasury note''s yield fell to 5.08% from 5.14% late Friday.


[R]9:30AM The FTSE loses ground Monday on weakness in mining stocks.[/R]

The UK market was lower by mid-day on Monday. The FTSE 100 dipped 0.4% and was at 6,540.4.

Advancers

ICI was one of the few companies on the plus side, 1.4 per cent higher supported by talk that Akzo Nobel was mulling an increase in its bid for the ICI to the 700p mark thought by some investors as the level where the deal can be done.

Housebuilders were buoyant after Persimmon came out with strong figures. The company announced it expected interim revenue to reach 1.5 billion pounds with 8,000 units sold, matching forecasts despite rising interest rates.

Decliners

The mining sector took a serious hit after Cazenove guided weaker metal prices and lowered its recommendations on Anglo American and Antofagasta. The brokerage house reduced its stance on Antofagasta to underperform from in-line, stating that the stock looked overestimated. Antofagasta declined 1.5%. Anglo American was reduced to in-line from outperform and the stock slid 2.1%.

Pendragon plummeted almost 11% after it announced sustained weakness in consumer spending would erode its annual operating profit by 20 million pounds this year and by a further 10 million pounds in 2008.

Cadbury Schweppes dipped further as lack of news on bidders for its soft drinks arm disappointed i investors. The company which is the biggest confectioner in the world shed 1.8%.


[R]9:00AM Market to open slightly higher, supported by falling oil and General Motors.[/R]

U.S. stock futures pointed to a moderately higher opening on Monday, supported by a broker upgrade for General Motors ((GM)) and a decline in crude oil futures. Shares of the auto maker advanced 3% in pre-open trading after it was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman Sachs. Chevron ((CVX)) also gained on positive analyst comment. Banc of America Securities raised its rating on the stock to buy from neutral, citing the group''s deepwater activities.

In other corporate news, Dow Jones & Co. ((DJ)) and News Corp ((NWS)) held ''intense'' talks related to the protections over the editorial independence of The WSJ. In an expected move, Jones Apparel Group ((JNY)) announced late Friday a decision to sell Barneys New York for $825 million. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.6 of a point at 1,519.90, the Nasdaq 100 futures rose 3 points at 1,951.00 and the Dow industrial futures rose 9 points.


[R]8:30AM Asian markets decline Monday, with Japan down on export-oriented stocks.[/R]

Asian markets finished lower on Monday. The Nikkei 225 Average settled 0.6% lower at 18,087. Real estate and brokerages led the decliners. Sony, the biggest maker of game consoles in the world, declined 1.4% and Takeda, the biggest drugmaker by market value in Japan, jumped 1.2%. Mitsui Fudosan lost 2.8% and Nomura Holdings slid 2%.

The Shanghai Composite Index in China plunged 3.7% to settle at 3,941. The market dipped on sustained worries over monetary tightening. Yunnan Jingu Forestry, Henan Lianhua Gourmet Powder and Jiangsu Sopo Chemical fell by the daily limit of 10%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index shed 0.8% to close at 21,822. Sinopec, fell 2.9% in Hong Kong and 5.7% in Shanghai, after the company announced Chairman Chen Tonghai resigned on rumors of corruption. Banks also fell. China Construction Bank fell 2.3%, Bank of China declined 0.8% and ICBC fell 0.7%.

South Korean Kospi Index shed 0.8% to 1,757 and Australian S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.8% to 6,329. In Seoul, banks led the market lower, while autos advanced. Korea Exchange Bank declined 3.9%, still hurt by the news Friday that its largest shareholder, Lone Star Funds, sold a part of its stake. Kookmin Bank dipped 1.4% and Woori Finance Holdings dropped 2.1%. Hyundai Motors rose 3.2% and its affiliate, Kia Motors, gained 1.9%, as the Hyundai labor union softened its threats of a general strike. BHP Billiton led Australia lower, falling 1.2%.


[R]7:30AM NY-6:30PM Mumbai Sensex ends slightly higher in a subdued trading session.[/R]

The Sensex on BSE finished 20.36 points higher, or 0.14%, at 14,487.72.

The market-breadth was fairly positive as there were three gainers for every two decliners. For 1,500 stocks which advanced, 1,073 declined and 73 remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 16 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 4,283 crore, lower than Rs 5,344 crore on Friday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 8,308 crore, also lower than Rs 9,251 crore on Friday.

Economic news

Nissan Motor Corporation is planning to buy more components from China and India after the company’s profit declined for the first time after the record loss in 2000. Nissan will boost its global component purchases from low-cost countries to 24% of the total, from the current 14%.

Trading highlights

Indiabulls Real Estate was the most active stock with a turnover of Rs 138 crore followed by Hindalco and Reliance Industries.

Advancers

Larsen & Toubro surged nearly 2.8% to Rs 2,166 and was the best performing stock on the market. The company gained after it announced today that its board would meet on July 3 2007 to offer a special dividend. Other capital goods sector companies also rallied. The engineering company BHEL advanced 0.7% to Rs 1,450, after it announced it secured an order worth Rs 106 crore from RINL to be fulfilled within 28 months.

Telecom companies also surged. Reliance Communications gained nearly 2% to Rs 523, and Bharti Airtel ended up over 1.2% to Rs 833. Bharti Airtel is about to fulfill its ambitious plan to be in the digital media space and launch DTH services by December this year.

ONGC advanced 0.9% to Rs 917. ONGC said its net profit for fiscal 2007 surged 8% to Rs15,643 crore, in spite of a subsidy payout of Rs17,024 crore. The company had reported a net profit of Rs14,431 crore in fiscal 2006.

Decliners

Cipla led the decliners, down 1.8% to Rs 206. Auto shares declined on profit taking with Bajaj Auto down 1.7% to Rs 2,138, while Tata Motors lost almost 1.1% to Rs 677, and Maruti Udyog slipped 1.1% to Rs 753.

IT stocks were under heavy selling pressure. Satyam Computers lost 1.5% to Rs 455, TCS declined 1.3% to Rs 1,126, Infosys Technologies slid 0.8% to Rs 1,936, and Wipro dipped 0.4% to Rs 515.

ICICI Bank declined 0.2% to Rs 952. The bank failed to receive the permission of the government to transfer $477 million of insurance and asset-management holdings to a new company with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. likely to buy a stake. ICICI sold last week $5 billion of shares to raise funds to increase loans and investment. Index heavy Reliance Industries finished 0.1% higher at Rs 1,706.