Local earnings

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jan 31, 2007 | by Deseret Morning News

Several companies with Utah ties reported quarterly financial results Tuesday.

Headwaters

South Jordan-based Headwaters Inc. reported net income of $17 million, or 37 cents per share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31. That compares with $28.3 million, or 60 cents per share, for the same quarter a year earlier.

Revenue in the 2007 fiscal first quarter totaled $274.9 million, down from $280.5 million in the year-earlier quarter.

The company is involved in technologies for the energy, construction and home improvement markets.

The company's stock rose 1 cent Tuesday to close at $22.82 per share. During the past year, the price has ranged from $20.54 to $40.19.

JetBlue

JetBlue Airways Corp., which has operations in Utah, posted a fourth-quarter profit of $17 million as it flew more passengers. The shares fell after JetBlue said it may have a first-quarter loss.

Net income was 10 cents a share, after a net loss of $42.4 million, or 25 cents, a year earlier, the New York-based company said. Sales rose 42 percent to $633 million.

The fourth-quarter results reflected JetBlue's steps to pare capacity growth, cut fuel use and boost productivity to save $120 million annually by the end of 2007. JetBlue, the eighth-largest U.S. airline, added 14 percent more capacity last quarter, down from 21 percent a year earlier.

Fourth-quarter earnings fell short of the 11 cents-a-share average of 14 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The number of miles flown by paying passengers rose 12.4 percent in the quarter, and the average fare per mile climbed 25 percent.

Shares of JetBlue declined 65 cents, or 4.5 percent, to close at $13.85 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Shares of most U.S. airlines also dropped as jet fuel for immediate delivery in New York Harbor rose 8.9 cents, or 5.3 percent, to about $1.76 a gallon.

Pilgrim's Pride

Pilgrim's Pride Corp., the world's biggest poultry processor, had its fourth straight loss in the fiscal first quarter as prices for corn, the company's biggest cost, soared on demand for grain-based ethanol.

The net loss was $8.74 million, or 13 cents a share, in the three months ended Dec. 30 compared with net income of $25.7 million, or 39 cents, a year earlier, the Pittsburg, Texas-based company said in a statement. Sales fell 0.5 percent to $1.34 billion. The average expectation of four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for profit of 0.5 cent a share.

Pilgrim's Pride has a distribution center in Salt Lake City.

Chief Executive Officer O.B. Goolsby said chicken prices will have to rise to cover corn costs, which are being pushed higher by demand for ethanol. Futures prices for corn, used in feed, were 71 percent higher in the quarter than a year earlier. Goolsby said he'll raise prices by continuing production cuts of 5 percent, or 830,000 birds a week, announced last year.

Pilgrim's shares rose $2.06, or 7 percent, to close at $31.70 on the New York Stock Exchange, the biggest one-day gain since Dec. 4.

Contributing: Bloomberg News; Brice Wallace