Earnings roundup

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jul 25, 2007 | by Deseret Mornings News

Several companies announced quarterly financial results on Tuesday, including several with Utah ties.

Utah Medical

Salt Lake-based Utah Medical Products Inc. reported second- quarter net income of $2 million, or 49 cents per share. That compares with $2 million, or 51 cents per share, for the 2006 second quarter.

Sales totaled $7.2 million, down from $7.3 million a year earlier.

UPS

UPS Inc., which has about 3,200 workers in Utah, reported a 4.1 percent rise in second-quarter earnings on a modest increase in sales.

For the three months ending June 30, the Atlanta-based company said it earned $1.10 billion, or $1.04 a share, compared to a profit of $1.06 billion, or 97 cents a share, for the same period a year ago.

Revenue rose 3.9 percent to $12.19 billion, compared to $11.74 billion recorded in the same period a year ago.

JetBlue

JetBlue Airways Corp.'s second-quarter profit grew 50 percent on greater passenger volume, but the company announced plans to slow its growth in the wake of a February debacle in which an ice storm forced the cancellation of 1,700 flights and cost Chief Executive David Neeleman, a Utah native, his job.

JetBlue, based in Forest Hills, N.Y., said that net income grew to $21 million, or 11 cents a share, in the second quarter, from $14 million, or 8 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue rose to $730 million from $612 million in the second quarter of 2006, a 19.3 percent increase.

JetBlue said it will take delivery of three fewer airplanes this year than planned and will sell three more. New CEO Dave Barger has said he believes JetBlue's February meltdown was caused, in part, by the fact that the company grew too fast.

JetBlue still plans to take delivery of 7 seven new airplanes this year.

Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corp. said its second-quarter profit rose 22 percent, lifted in part by increased demand for Huggies diapers and other personal care products and continued double-digit sales growth in emerging markets.

The Texas-based maker of Kleenex tissues and Kotex tampons said net income rose to $461.8 million, or $1 per share, from $377.6 million, or 82 cents per share, a year ago. Adjusted earnings totaled $1.04 per share, up more than 9 percent from 95 cents per share in 2006 and slightly above the company's previous guidance of $1.01 to $1.03 per share.

The company took one-time charges to streamline operations.

Sales climbed 8 percent to $4.5 billion from $4.16 billion in the year-ago period.

Kimberly-Clark has facilities in Ogden and Draper.

Northrop Grumman

Defense and aerospace contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. said its second-quarter earnings rose 7 percent and profit margins increased on strong sales in its information technology unit.

Net income rose to $460 million, or $1.31 per share, for the three months ended June 30, from $430 million, or $1.23 per share, in the same period last year.

Sales increased 4 percent to $7.93 billion, from $7.6 billion last year, but missed Wall Street projections of $8.02 billion. Revenue in the company's information and services unit grew 15 percent to $3.236 billion, representing 8.7 percent of total sales.

The company has about 1,250 employees in Utah.

XTO

XTO Energy Inc., a U.S. oil and natural gas driller that has operations in Utah, said second-quarter profit fell 28 percent after a year-earlier gain on the distribution of Hugoton Royalty Trust units.

Net income fell to $432 million, or $1.14 a share, from $597 million, or $1.62 a share, a year earlier. Excluding a $292 million after-tax gain in the second quarter of 2006, earnings rose 35 percent from $319 million, or 86 cents a share. Sales rose 25 percent to $1.33 billion.

XTO announced its biggest-ever acquisition last month when it said it would pay about $2.5 billion to buy oil and gas properties in Utah, New Mexico, southern Colorado and Louisiana from Dominion Resources Inc. It said the properties had reserves equal to 1.06 trillion cubic feet of gas. The company said that because of the Dominion acquisition it expects production this year to rise 17 percent, up from an earlier estimate of 15 percent.

DuPont

Chemical giant DuPont Co. reported flat second-quarter earnings as higher sales were offset by the cost of energy and accelerated biotech research.

Net income slipped to $972 million from $975 million in the second quarter of 2006, which included a one-time tax benefit of $31 million, or 3 cents per share. Earnings per share were flat at $1.04. Excluding the tax benefit, earnings would have been $1.01 per share for the 2006 quarter.

Sales for the quarter grew 6 percent to $7.88 billion from $7.44 billion a year earlier.

A DuPont facility in Logan produces holographic optical elements and security authentication holograms.

Amazon.com

Amazon.com Inc.'s second-quarter profit more than tripled, boosted by strong sales of books, music and electronics worldwide.

Earnings for the three months ended June 30 climbed to $78 million, or 19 cents per share, from $22 million, or 5 cents per share during the same period last year, the company said.