Ford Motor Co posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and predicted 2013 operating profit will be about equal to its performance last year, as market share gains in the US auto market offset deepening losses in Europe.

The second largest US automaker expects to lose $2bn in Europe, reflecting its deteriorating sales outlook for the region. Previously, Ford said it expected its 2013 loss in the region to be equal to last year’s levels.

But chief financial officer Bob Shanks predicted Ford’s losses in Europe will bottom out this year. The automaker expects to command a higher market share in both the US and China.

In the fourth quarter, Ford reported a per-share pretax operating profit of 31¢, better than the average analyst estimate of 25¢ per share, according to Thomson Reuters.

Fourth-quarter revenue totaled $36.5bn, with the lion’s share coming from its North American operations, its most profitable business unit. During what is typically its weakest quarter of the year, Ford reported an operating margin of 8.4% in North America.

During the quarter, Ford lost $732mn in Europe and reported a $1.75bn loss for 2012, roughly in line with its forecast of a $1.5bn loss or higher.

Ford expects pretax profits in North America will be higher this year than in 2012. The company also expects to break even in Asia, where it is racing to catch up to rivals, and South America.

 

 

Eli Lilly

Eli Lilly and Co said yesterday that fourth-quarter profit fell as competition from generic drugs, particularly for its once top-selling schizophrenia drug Zyprexa, drove revenue lower.

The US drugmaker earned $827mn, or 74¢ per share, down from $858mn, or 77¢ per share, a year earlier.

Excluding special items such as asset impairments and restructuring, Lilly earned 85¢ per share, beating analysts’ expectations by 7¢ per share.

The better-than-expected results were due to cost controls as well as strong sales of key drugs, such as lung cancer treatment Alimta and antidepressant Cymbalta, Lilly spokesman Ed Sagabiel said.

Revenue dropped by about 1% to $5.96bn, but was above Wall Street expectations of $5.81bn.

Lilly forecast earning would increase this year by 13% to 17% to $3.82 to $3.97 per share, excluding special items, due to cost controls.

On January 4 the company forecast earnings of $3.75 to $3.90 per share, but that did not include the tax benefit.

 

 

Yahoo!

Yahoo! shares bounced in after-hours trading on Monday as the struggling Internet pioneer topped Wall Street expectations despite a slip in quarterly profit.

Yahoo! reported profit of $272mn, an 8% drop from a year earlier, but the earnings figures were enough to make its stock jump before setting more than 3% above the regular trading day closing price.

For the second-quarter running, revenue from ads placed with results of searched search results at Yahoo! pages climbed.

In 2012, Yahoo! saw its revenue rise for the first time in four years, according to CEO Marissa Mayer. The company reported 2012 annual revenue of $4.98bn in a two% increase from the prior year.

Yahoo! last year sold back billions of dollars’ worth of stock it held in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, getting an infusion of cash to use to buy back its own shares as well as make bets on the company’s future.

Yahoo! said that it ended last year with nearly $9bn in total equity in Alibaba and a share in Yahoo! Japan valued at $6.6bn.

Yahoo! reported that it bought back $1.45bn worth of stock in the final three months of last year.

 

 

Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson reported fourth-quarter net income slightly below Wall Street estimates, as it shipped fewer motorcycles while phasing in new software control systems at its main US factories.

The company yesterday said profit was $70.6mn, or 31¢ per share, compared with $105.7mn, or 46¢ per share a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, had expected the company to earn 32¢ per share in the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters.

Revenue declined 1.5% to $1.01bn from $1.03bn a year earlier.

Milwaukee-based Harley said it expects to ship 4.5% to 6.5% more motorcycles in 2013 than it did last year, and looks for gross margin to represent 35.2% to 36.2% of sales. It plans $200mn to $220mn in capital expenditures.

 

 

Pfizer

Pfizer yesterday reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results, helped by rebounding sales in emerging markets, but the drug maker forecast earnings for 2013 that was mostly below consensus analyst expectations.

The largest US drug maker said its earnings quadrupled to $6.32bn, or 86¢ per share, in the quarter as it recorded gains from the approximately $12bn sale in November of its nutritional products business to Swiss food groups Nestle. That compared with earnings of $1.44bn, or 19¢ per share, in the year-earlier quarter.

Excluding special items, Pfizer earned 47¢ per share. Analysts, on average, expected 44¢ per share, according to Thomson Reuters.

Global company sales fell 7% to $15.1bn, hurt by generic competition for its Lipitor cholesterol fighter, but came in well above Wall Street expectations of $14.37bn.

Pfizer forecast full-year earnings, excluding special items of $2.20 to $2.30 per share. The average analyst forecast was $2.29 per share, according to Thomson Reuters.

 

 

Komatsu

Japan’s Komatsu, the world’s second-biggest maker of construction machinery, cut its annual profit for a second time as demand for mining equipment in Indonesia tumbled on the back of steep declines in thermal coal prices.

Komatsu yesterday cut its operating profit forecast by 12% to ¥230bn ($2.5bn) for the year to end-March, below an average estimate of ¥249bn from 25 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

It initially expected a profit of ¥315bn for the year to March.

For the third quarter ended December 31, Komatsu posted a 33.4% fall in operating profit to ¥39.23bn. It came in below an average estimate of ¥58.73bn operating profit by three analysts, according to Thomson Reuters.

Prior to the results announcement, Komatsu shares ended up 1.3% versus a 0.4% rise on the benchmark Nikkei .

Shares of Komatsu gained 21% in 2012, just lagging a 23% rise in the Nikkei but outperforming a 1.1% fall in Caterpillar. It has a market capitalisation of about $25.5bn versus Caterpillar’s $62.5bn.

 

 

Sandvik

Swedish machinery and tool maker Sandvik posted fourth-quarter earnings below analysts’ expectations yesterday and said it had cut production further in the face of sluggish demand.

Sandvik said adjusted operating earnings fell to 3.06bn crowns ($477.2mn) from 3.24bn a year-ago, lagging a mean forecast for 3.30bn in a Reuters poll of analysts.

Sandvik, which does not issue financial guidance, said group order intake fell 10% stripped of currency swings and acquisitions to 21.1bn crowns in the quarter, falling short of the 21.8bn seen by analysts.

 “Overall demand for Sandvik’s products during the fourth quarter remained largely on par with the third quarter,” the company said in a statement.

“Activity in the aerospace, oil/gas and process industries remained at reasonably high levels, while the mining, construction and automotive industries were weak.”

In its mining business alone, the group’s biggest unit by sales, order intake fell 5% and bookings were down in all the company’s business areas.

 

 

Software AG

Software AG’s fourth-quarter revenue and operating profit missed expectations, burdened by costs related to the sale of a unit and higher investments.

Germany’ second-largest software firm after SAP AG reported earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of €75.4mn ($101.5mn), down 3% from the previous year, and revenue 6% lower at 276.7mn.

The company was expected to report revenue of €288mn and operating profit of 77.3mn, according to the average of 11 estimates in a Reuters poll.

Software AG has sold its North American SAP-related service activities as part of a transformation to helping companies managing big chunks of data, away from traditional lower-margin software products.

The company, which did not give a profit outlook for 2013, said yesterday it expects more than €1bn in sales from such products by 2018, almost double the 547mn it reached in 2012.

Software AG is operating in a market where companies are widely expected to hold back on IT purchases, in part because of worries about the global economy.

Software AG shares were indicated to open 6.5% lower, with the German blue chip index seen opening slightly higher.

 

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