CORRECT: UPDATE: Pfizer Profit Falls 19% As Generics Hurt Lipitor Sales

(“UPDATE: Pfizer Profit Falls 19% As Generics Hurt Lipitor Sales,” published at 8:46 a.m. EDT, incorrectly stated sales for Prevnar 13 in the eleventh paragraph. A corrected version follows.)

–Generic competition for Lipitor continues to pressure sales

–Pfizer lowers 2012 forecast to reflect pending sale of nutrition unit to Nestle

–Pfizer awaits regulatory action on key new drug applications

(Updates to add details and background throughout.)

Pfizer Inc.’s (PFE) first-quarter profit declined 19% as sales of its top product, the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor, tumbled 71% in the U.S. amid competition from generic copies.

The New York-based drug maker also lowered …

Article source: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120501-711052.html

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BP Profit Falls as Production Lags

BY ALEXIS FLYNN

LONDON—BP PLC on Tuesday posted a drop in first-quarter profit as asset sales after its U.S. oil spill contributed to a drop in production, preventing the energy giant from cashing in on bumper crude-oil prices to the same extent as some rivals.

BP’s results underscored the impact that the Deepwater Horizon disaster continues to have on the company more than two years after a rig leased by the firm exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 and setting off the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. While BP’s financial health is now sufficiently robust to withstand the multibillion-dollar …

Article source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304050304577377222004250672.html

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ANZ lifts profit 10pc to $2.92bn but warns margins are declining

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Article source: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/anz-lifts-profit-10pc-to-292bn-but-warns-margins-are-declining/story-fn91v9q3-1226344341861

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Niche clothing markets keep N Brown ahead of the game

Despite turmoil on the high street and shoppers cutting back, N Brown’s online lingerie business Figleaves posted its first ever profit.

The Manchester-based home shopping group posted a 2.5 per cent rise in profit to £96.9m in the year to 3 March, ahead of analysts’ forecast of £94.5m and up on last year’s £94.5m.

Its plus size brands Simply Be, Jacamo and Marisota reported strong growth and it has been opening stores for the Simply Be brand to “test a multi-channel offer”.

Alan White, the chief executive, said this multi-channel strategy and its focus on niche customers such as tall men at its High Mighty brand and larger women with Simply Be helped it “overcome the challenging macro-economic conditions”.

It launched a US website for Simply Be in 2010, and sales there rose from £800,000 to £4.8m.

For the year the group’s revenue rose 4.8 per cent to £753.2m, and like-for-like sales were up 0.6 per cent in the eight weeks to 28 April.

Article source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/niche-clothing-markets-keep-n-brown-ahead-of-the-game-7704373.html

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Acuity profit slides 2% on higher costs

By Kristin Jones

Acuity Brands Inc.’s


/quotes/zigman/294255/quotes/nls/ayi AYI
-7.84%



fiscal second-quarter earnings fell 2% as higher material costs and operating losses in Spain offset the lighting company’s top-line growth.

“While we are taking significant steps to properly size our Spanish operations given the challenging prospects of the local economy, we expect to report a modest operating loss for Spain in our third quarter,” Chief Executive Vernon J. Nagel said.

Acuity, which makes light fixtures, has sought to diversify from revenue related to new construction, as home and commercial building remains weak. Instead, the company has focused on products used in renovation, like lighting-control and energy-efficient bulbs. It has also cut costs. Last month, the company said it would close a Georgia production plant as part of its cost-reduction efforts.

For the quarter ended Feb. 29, Acuity reported a profit of $19.5 million, down from $19.9 million a year earlier. One a per-share basis, earnings rose to 46 cents from 45 cents on fewer shares outstanding in the latest period. Excluding special charges related to reducing its workforce in Spain and closing its Georgia plant, per-share earnings were 57 cents.

Revenue increased 10% to $457.7 million on higher volume across most product categories and sales channels in North America.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 62 cents on revenue of $455 million.

Gross margin rose to 39.7% from 39.4% as pricing initiatives helped offset higher material costs.

Shares closed at $63.65 on Tuesday and were inactive premarket. The stock is up 20% so far this year.

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Article source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/acuity-profit-slides-2-on-higher-costs-2012-04-04

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Monsanto Raises Forecast as Profit Tops Estimates on Corn

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Monsanto Co. (MON), the world’s largest
seed company, raised its full-year earnings forecast and
reported second-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates
as U.S. farmers bought more genetically modified corn.

Net income rose 19 percent to $1.21 billion, or $2.24 a
share, in the three months through February, from $1.02 billion,
or $1.88, a year earlier, St. Louis-based Monsanto said today in
a statement. Earnings excluding legal costs were $2.28, topping
the $2.12 average of 17 analysts’ estimates compiled by
Bloomberg.

Monsanto said it will earn $3.49 to $3.54 a share in the 12
months through August, a 10-cent increase from the company’s
January forecast. The average estimate of 19 analysts was $3.52.
Revenue rose to $4.75 billion from $4.13 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Hugh Grant is expanding in Latin
America and boosting U.S. sales of SmartStax corn, which has
eight genetic changes enabling it to tolerate herbicides and
kill bugs. Warm weather is encouraging U.S. farmers to plant the
biggest corn crop in 75 years, the Department of Agriculture
said March 30.

“They have a lot of things going right for them: corn
acreage, weather, strong crop prices,” Chris Shaw, an analyst
at Monness Crespi Hardt Co. who recommends selling the shares,
said today in a telephone interview. “The largest beat in my
model was corn seed.”

Vegetable Seeds

Monsanto rose 1.6 percent to $83.10 at 9:04 a.m. before the
start of regular trading in New York. The shares gained 17
percent this year before today.

The company also raised its full-year forecast for free
cash flow by $300 million to $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion.

Sales of seeds and genetic licenses rose 15 percent as
farmers in the U.S. and Latin America increased purchases of
corn, the largest business unit, Monsanto said. Gross profit
from seeds climbed 17 percent as gains in corn, soybeans and
cotton outpaced a Europe-led decline in vegetable seeds.

“Our strong U.S. selling season and growth from Latin
America during the first six months have come together to set us
up for a great 2012,” Grant said in the statement.

Farmers may plant 95.864 million acres with corn, a 4.3
percent increase from last year, the USDA said March 30. At
current prices, farmers in some parts of the Midwest can make
more than twice as much from an acre of corn as from soybeans,
according to AgStar Financial Services ACA in Rochester,
Minnesota.

Iowa Farmers

In Illinois, the biggest corn-growing state after Iowa,
farmers have already started seeding following recent record
high temperatures, the USDA said last week.

U.S farm net income may be $91.7 billion this year, the
second-highest total on record, according to the USDA. Corn is
the biggest U.S. crop, valued at $76.5 billion in 2011, followed
by soybeans at $35.8 billion, government figures show.

Monsanto got 54 percent of its revenue from the U.S. in
fiscal 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

(Monsanto scheduled a conference call at 9:30 a.m. New York
time. See http://www.monsanto.com/investors or dial
+1-877-407-3980.)

To contact the reporter on this story:
Jack Kaskey in Houston at
jkaskey@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Simon Casey at
scasey4@bloomberg.net

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Article source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-04/monsanto-raises-forecast-as-profit-tops-estimates-on-corn.html

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Qatar National Bank Q1 net profit up 17.4 pct

Wed Apr 4, 2012 7:42am EDT

* QNB Q1 net profit 2 bln riyals, up 17.4 pct on yr-ago

* Misses analysts’ average estimate of 2.1 bln riyals

* Total operating income up 24.4 pct on end-March 2011

(Adds detail, background)

DUBAI, APRIL 4 – Qatar National Bank, the Gulf
Arab state’s largest lender by market value, reported a 17.4
percent rise in quarterly profits on Wednesday, in results that
fell just shy of analyst estimates.

First quarter net profit rose to 2 billion riyals ($549.3
million) in the three months to March 31, compared with 1.7
billion riyals in the prior year period, the bank said in a
statement.

An average of five analysts saw a net profit of 2.1 billion
riyals, according to a Reuters survey.

QNB is the first major regional lender to report earnings
and is closely watched for an indication of the sector’s
performance.

Total operating income was up 24.4 percent on the year-ago
period, which the bank attributed to strong growth across a
range of revenue sources.

Loans and advances at the end of March were 201 billion
riyals, growing 3.6 percent during the quarter and up 43 percent
on the end of the same month in 2011.

Deposits and unrestricted investment accounts rose to 38.5
billion riyals, up 21.1 percent on the same time last year, the
statement said.

QNB has been in negotiations to acquire Turkey’s Denizbank
, the fast-growing Turkish arm of euro zone debt
casualty Dexia, in a deal potentially worth up to $6
billion.

The Qatari bank, whose chairman is also the country’s
finance minister, was the only party left bidding for Denizbank,
as crippled Dexia dismantles itself after a state bail-out at
the height of the euro zone debt crisis last year.

But Dexia is hoping that rival suitors for Denizbank will
return after it failed to get a higher price from QNB for the
Turkish unit, sources familiar with the matter said late last
month.

Dexia considered the Qatari offer too low, and is not
willing to sell the healthy Turkish business – which gives
access to a fast-growing market – in a fire-sale, sources said.

In February QNB issued a $1 billion five-year bond which was
five time oversubscribed and received orders from more than 270
investors globally, in the first global issue from a Qatari name
this year. [ID: nL5E8DF0AM] Proceeds from the bond are to be
used for the general purposes of the bank, the lender said.

QNB is 50-percent owned by sovereign wealth fund Qatar
Investment Authority and has been expanding abroad, with
operations in Syria, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and
Switzerland.

Banks in Qatar are expected to benefit as the country is one
of the world’s fastest-growing economies, set to spend more on
infrastructure as it prepares to host the 2022 World Cup.

Shares in QNB closed down on Wednesday 0.7 percent at 135.9
riyals before the results were announced. They are down 1
percent year-to-date.
($1 = 3.6410 Qatar riyals)

(Reporting by David French; Editing by Amran Abocar)

Article source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/04/qatarnationalbank-results-idUSL6E8F45J320120404

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Anti-Abortion Film Is Pro-Profit

As mass entertainment goes, the abortion debate does not typically count as good Saturday-night date movie fare; the subject rarely makes it to the mainstream multiplex. But at a time when the issue is once again causing agitation in political circles, a small film, “October Baby,” about a woman who learns she is, as the movie puts it, a “survivor of a failed abortion,” is making a dent at theaters across the country.

The movie, the first feature by a pair of filmmaking brothers from Birmingham, Ala., opened the same weekend as the chart-topping “Hunger Games,” but with the backing of evangelical groups and churches, “October Baby” managed to open at No. 8 and, through Sunday, had made $2.8 million, more than three times its production budget. It is expected to move to more than 500 screens on April 13.

Distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films and the Sony-owned Provident Films, which specializes in socially-conservative religious fare, it benefited from the kind of grass-roots religion-focused marketing (enlisting Bible and prayer groups and ministries) that has carried their other Christian-oriented movies, like “Fireproof” and “Courageous,” to box-office success.

But those films did not center on a lightning-rod topic like abortion. “October Baby” tells the story of Hannah, 19, a home-schooled Baptist who is told by a doctor that her ailments — asthma, seizures, moodiness — are the result of being born prematurely after an abortion attempt.

Hannah sets out to find her birth mother, a quest that ends in tears and, ultimately, a lesson in forgiveness delivered by a Catholic priest.

It was inspired by the story of Gianna Jessen, who says she was delivered alive at a California clinic after a late-term saline-injection abortion. As a paid speaker at anti-abortion events she tells of her struggles and medical conditions. (The film doesn’t get into the science, but a 1985 study published in Obstetrics Gynecology examined  33,000 suction curettage abortions and found a failure rate of 2.3 per 1,000 at the 12-weeks or earlier.)

Though “October Baby” arrives at a moment when reproductive rights and women’s sexual health are again part of a robust national debate, its makers say they weren’t acting with a political agenda.

“I was just dumbfounded by a true story,” said Jon Erwin, 29, a co-writer and a producer of the movie, which he directed with his brother Andrew, 33. “I didn’t see it as a political issue.”

The Erwin brothers, who were home-schooled in what they described as a Christian household, said they voted Republican and considered themselves conservatives. But, they said, they did not think deeply about the abortion debate until they heard Ms. Jessen speak. “I began to research it because I didn’t know there was such a thing as an abortion survivor,” Jon Erwin said. “I’m an artist — sometimes the way artists process things is through art. I just felt I had to put this perspective on film.”

As it made its way to theaters, “October Baby” gained support, manpower or financing from conservative organizations like Focus on the Family.

Last year, before the film’s commercial release, it received test screenings in Alabama and Mississippi, just as Mississippi was considering a “personhood” ballot initiative that would have outlawed abortions. Though that amendment was defeated, the screenings, which scored well with audiences, were promoted by the American Family Association, a Christian-values group that has been active in the presidential race.

Given the links to these groups, the abortion rights organization Naral Pro-Choice America contends that the film is tied to an extreme anti-abortion message. A spokesman, Ted Miller, added that his group was “concerned that some proceeds from this film could be going to organizations that may intentionally mislead women about their health-care options.” The film’s credits include a list of anti-abortion Web sites, some in the guise of therapeutic resources, Naral said.

The Erwin brothers said they had earmarked 10 percent of the movie’s profits for a charity they founded, Every Life Is Beautiful, which supports adoption and so-called crisis pregnancy centers.

Kris Fuhr, vice president for theatrical marketing at Provident, said the company’s films typically list Web sites in the credits as a way to get viewers involved. “The beauty of movies is that they live on and on,” she said. “We hope that as people find this movie, that they’re able to get help if they feel like they need some help.”

She said she hoped the movie would spur conversation among audiences. “The movie is a very evenhanded portrayal of something that occurs in our society every day,” she said. “I think that clearly folks who have written about it and called it propaganda — there is something deeply personal about the movie that touches them.”

For Focus on the Family, the film was “so consistent with our strategic priorities to advocate for children and be a voice for life,” Kelly Rosati, vice president of community outreach for the group, said, adding that with a story about adoption the film followed “what we would describe as a pro-life agenda, an agenda that values both moms and their preborn babies.”

“October Baby” began the way most independent films do, with a small budget and a tight schedule. The Erwin brothers, whose credits include filming sports for ESPN and producing videos for Christian music stars like Amy Grant, shot for 20 days around Alabama in 2010. The cast includes John Schneider (“The Dukes of Hazzard”) and Jasmine Guy (“A Different World”) alongside an unknown in the lead, Rachel Hendrix, whom Andrew Erwin discovered when she attended the same college as his wife.

The reviews have not been kind. In The New York Times, Jeannette Catsoulis wrote that “the film communicates in the language of guilt and fear,” while Roger Ebert called it “amateurish and ungainly.”

But Meyer Gottlieb, the president of Samuel Goldwyn, noted that on the aggregate ratings site RottenTomatoes.com, audience approval is high — currently 89 percent — adding that he was not bothered by critics who contend that the movie is propaganda. “Controversy is not a bad thing in and of itself,” he said.

And he said the timing of the release had more to do with box office than politics. “Frankly, I wasn’t looking at the political landscape,” he said. “We’re a niche distributor — counterprogramming big Hollywood movies is a big part of our releasing strategy.” (The response to “October Baby” has not been overwhelming everywhere. On Saturday evening at the only Manhattan theater where it is playing, just 10 people were in the audience.)

With its soft-focus gaze and soundtrack of moody pop, “October Baby” is more melodramatic, and far less stark, than other recent films that deal with abortion, like the 2007 Tony Kaye documentary “Lake of Fire.” The Erwin brothers, who count Frank Capra as an inspiration but also like the films of another pair of brothers, the Coens (“they’re quirky,” Andrew said), say their film is not about pointing fingers at abortion providers or women, but about forgiveness.

“I wanted to make a movie about the value of each and every life, and how wonderful the choice for life is,” Jon Erwin said.

Ms. Fuhr also said she believed the movie was preaching compassion. “To the young woman who found herself pregnant,” she said, “if she found compassion early in the road, she might’ve made a different decision.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/04/movies/october-baby-film-makes-a-dent-at-the-box-office.html

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Avon CEO Jung’s 2011 Pay Fell 23% Amid Profit Slump, U.S. Probe

Andrea Jung, chairman and chief
executive officer of Avon Products Inc. (AVP), saw her pay fall 23
percent to $10.1 million last year, the company reported today.

Avon, the world’s largest direct seller of cosmetics, said
in December that Jung, 53, would relinquish the CEO position
amid slumping earnings and a foreign-bribery investigation. She
will become executive chairman as soon as a replacement is
found. Yesterday Avon rejected a $10 billion buyout offer from
perfume maker Coty Inc. as too low.

The company’s board debated firing Jung last year amid
investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
and the Justice Department involving possible violations of the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

“We are committed to hiring a new CEO and executing
against what the company believes are its strong long-term
prospects,” Jennifer Dwyer Vargas, an Avon spokeswoman, said
yesterday in an e-mailed statement. “The board has been clear
that with a new CEO, it believes there will be greater
opportunity to improve shareholder value.”

The New York-based company said in February that its
earnings for the year fell 11.5 percent to $526 million on $11.3
billion in sales.

Avon fell 2.3 percent to $22.19 today at the New York
close. The shares have risen 27 percent this year, after falling
40 percent in 2011.

Jung will continue as executive chairman for a two-year
term with a base salary of $1 million annually and a bonus
targeted at 100 percent of that amount. Avon reported Jung’s pay
in its annual proxy statement filed with the SEC.

Jung’s compensation decline reflected the fact that the
number of Avon’s salespeople fell 1 percent last year, units
sold were down 2 percent and its operating margin was
“significantly below” target, the company said in the filing.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Christopher Palmeri in Los Angeles at
cpalmeri1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Anthony Palazzo at
apalazzo@bloomberg.net

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Article source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-04/avon-ceo-jung-s-2011-pay-fell-23-amid-profit-slump-u-s-probe.html

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India Stock Futures Fall on Fed Stimulus, Profit Concerns

Indian stocks dropped for the first
time in four days after Federal Reserve minutes showed central
bankers saw no need for more U.S. stimulus, and on concern
quarterly earnings at Indian companies may slow.

State Bank of India, the nation’s biggest lender, declined
1.2 percent. Larsen Toubro Ltd. (LT), the largest engineering
company, retreated 1.3 percent.

The BSE India Sensitive Index (SENSEX), or Sensex, retreated 0.5
percent to 17,509.47 at 9:23 a.m. in Mumbai. The 30-stock gauge
is up 13 percent this year. The markets are closed tomorrow and
April 6 for public holidays.

Minutes released yesterday from the March 13 Fed policy
meeting showed it was holding off on increasing monetary
accommodation unless economic growth faltered or prices rose at
a rate slower than its 2 percent target. India’s economy has
slowed for four straight quarters and output has decelerated as
Europe’s debt crisis curbs demand for Asian exports, threatening
profit growth. A total of 47 percent of Sensex companies missed
earnings forecasts in the December quarter, compared with 40
percent three months earlier.

“On the western side of the planet, in the U.S. and to
some extent in Latin America, you find that earnings are doing
much better than they are in places like Asia, and India in
particular,” Arjuna Mahendran, the Singapore-based head of Asia
investment strategy at HSBC Private Bank, which oversees about
$499 billion, said in a Bloomberg UTV interview yesterday.

The Sensex has risen 14 percent this year as foreign funds
have bought a net $9.1 billion of domestic shares, a record for
the period, even as company-profit growth slows, interest rates
remain at a three-year high, oil prices jump and the government
struggles to tackle a widening fiscal gap.

The 30-stock measure trades at 13.5 times future earnings,
compared with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index’s 10.7 times.

The SP CNX Nifty (NIFTY) Index on the National Stock Exchange of
India Ltd. decreased 0.7 percent to 5,355.30. The BSE 200 Index (BSE200)
fell 0.4 percent to 2,180.37.

Foreigners bought a net 13 billion rupees ($254 million) of
local stocks on March 30 and April 2, raising their investment
this year to 452.5 billion rupees, according to the nation’s
market regulator.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Rajhkumar K Shaaw in Mumbai at
rshaaw@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Darren Boey at
dboey@bloomberg.net

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Article source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-04/india-stock-futures-fall-on-fed-stimulus-profit-concerns.html

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