Massey turns $20.2M profit for quarter

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Coal producer Massey Energy Co. said Tuesday it turned a better-than-expected profit in the second quarter as it booked fewer charges and increased shipments to power plants despite slumping demand for electricity amid the recession.

The Richmond, Va.-based company said it earned $20.2 million, or 24 cents per share, in the period, compared with a loss of $93.3 million, or $1.16 per share, in the same quarter last year, when it recorded a $245.3 million charge related to a lawsuit.

Total revenue fell to $697.6 million from $826.8 million, as coal revenue slipped to $603.2 million from $710.3 million and freight revenue declined.

The results topped expectations of Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who were expecting, on average, earnings of 16 cents per share on $660.6 million in revenue. Shares rose $1.16, or 5 percent, to $23.90 in after-hours electronic trading following the report.

Demand for coal, which produces about half the nation's electricity, has slumped with the economy this year, prompting mine operators to slash production goals. Massey has made cuts as well - slashing expenses to $648.9 million from $935.4 million in the year-ago period - but said it has gained market share anyway.

''Our coal tons shipped to utilities increased 8 percent compared to the first half of 2008 while it is estimated that total shipments of Central Appalachia coal to utilities declined by 7 percent in the same period,'' Chief Executive Don Blankenship said in a statement.

Massey said coal burn at utilities in its key southeastern U.S. market dropped 19 percent during the same period and central Appalachian coal consumption dropped 25 percent over the same time frame.

Massey said its cash margin dipped to $10.48 per ton, from $15.94 in second-quarter 2008 as prices slipped and some expenses increased. The company blamed lower shipments of high-priced metallurgical coal to steelmakers for the lower average price it received per ton in the quarter. Global steel output has plummeted as the recession curbs demand for cars and construction.

Following the lead of Peabody Energy, Arch Coal and other big producers, Massey lowered production, cut jobs, idled mines and revised price estimates for the rest of the year. The company now expects production ranging from 38.5 million to 40.5 million tons, down from earlier projections of 38 million to 41 million.

But Massey now sees per ton price estimates in a range of $61.50 to $63.50, up from a prior estimate of $60 to $63. Costs now are expected to range from $51.50 per ton to $53 per ton, also up from an earlier estimate of $50 to $53 per ton.

For 2010 Massey expects produced coal shipments to be in the range of 37.0 to 42.0 million tons, with an average sales price rising to $60 to $65 per ton. Cash costs for 2010 are expected to range between $48 to $52 per ton.

The company expects capital expenditures in 2010 will remain in the range of $100 million to $200 million. With results in these ranges, Massey said it believes it would generate solid free cash flow for the year.

Massey Energy Co. is the nation's fourth-largest coal producer based on revenue and operates mines in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. Shares closed Tuesday's regular session down 76 cents, or 3.2 percent, at $22.74. The stock is down 73 percent from its 52-week high of $81.95, reached a year ago before the market meltdown.

American Electric Power says its second-quarter earnings rose as higher rates in several states coupled with cost controls offset lower sales to industrial customers.

AEP, which has operations in Louisiana, said it made $316 million, or 67 cents per share, for the quarter ended June 30 compared with $281 million, or 70 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Earnings pre share were down because the company issued new stock in the first quarter.

Discounting one-time charges, AEP made $321 million, or 68 cents per share, compared with $280 million, or 70 cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue fell to $3.2 billion from $3.5 billion a year ago

Railroad operator Norfolk Southern Corp. said its second-quarter earnings sank 45 percent, as widespread cost cuts weren't able to balance the steep downturn in shipping demand.

Norfolk Southern earned $247 million, or 66 cents per share, compared with $453 million, or $1.18 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue sank 33 percent to $1.86 billion from $2.77 billion.

The Norfolk, Va.-based company says total traffic on its lines fell by 26 percent in the April to June period. The railroad slashed costs by 29 percent - furloughing workers and stashing train cars and locomotives to adjust to slower business.

Publisher McGraw-Hill says its second-quarter profit dropped 23 percent, partly hurt by a restructuring charge related to job cuts.

The company, which publishes textbooks and BusinessWeek magazine and owns Standard & Poor's, also lowered the high end of its full-year profit forecast and reduced its sales outlook on softening advertising and school education conditions.

McGraw-Hill Cos., which plans to sell BusinessWeek, said Tuesday it earned $164.1 million, or 52 cents per share. That's off from $212.3 million, or 66 cents per share, a year ago.

The New York-based company recently cut about 550 jobs and has been hit by declines in its education, financial services and media properties.

It says revenue fell 12 percent to $1.47 billion.

St. Louis-based Patriot Coal said Tuesday it earned $31.4 million, or 39 cents per share, in the period, compared with $11.2 million, or 21 cents per share in second-quarter 2008. Sales revenue increased to $485 million, from $328.4 million.

Patriot said operating costs for mines in West Virginia and eastern Kentucky decreased $1.98 per ton from the first quarter. Meanwhile, Patriot said its Federal No. 2 mine in West Virginia has returned to normal production of 1 million tons quarterly, while its Panther mine saw production increase 10 percent.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. is reporting it lost $175.9 million in the second quarter, compared with a loss of $8.8 million a year earlier.

The company, controlled by billionaire CEO Sheldon Adelson, said the loss included the costs of settling a legal matter and charges related to lower-than-expected proceeds from the sale of a mall at one of its Las Vegas resorts.

Net quarterly revenue was $1.06 billion, a decrease of 4.8 percent from $1.11 billion a year earlier and just below what analysts expected. They predicted on average that Sands would take in $1.08 billion in revenue.

Sands lost 34 cents per share in the quarter compared with 2 cents per share one year ago.

Lower gambling revenue and continuing costs of opening its newest casino, Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, punished Wynn Resorts Ltd., but the 91 percent drop in profit it reported Thursday topped forecasts, and its shares soared.

The company, run by billionaire and major stockholder Steve Wynn, reported profit of $25.5 million, or 21 cents per share, down from $272 million, or $2.42 per share last year. Revenue fell to $723.3 million, short of analysts' prediction for quarterly revenue of $739.3 million - and 12.3 percent below last year's second-quarter revenue of $825.2 million.

Valero Energy Corp., the nation's largest independent oil refiner, said Tuesday it lost $254 million in the second quarter as lower margins and weak demand for gasoline and other refined products hammered results.

San Antonio-based Valero said net income for the April-June period amounted to a loss of 48 cents per share. In the second quarter a year ago, Valero earned $734 million, or $1.37 per share.

Revenue fell 51 percent to $17.9 billion from a year ago.

BP PLC, Europe's second largest oil company, said Tuesday that lower world oil prices drove second-quarter profit down by 53 percent compared with a year earlier and saw little sign of growing demand in the months ahead.

Net profit for the period was $4.39 billion, down from $9.36 billion in the second quarter of last year but better than market forecasts. It was better than the $2.56 billion profit reported in the first quarter, when oil prices were in a deep slump.

Oil prices rose off those lows during the second quarter, with Brent Blend oil averaging $59.13 a barrel in the second quarter compared to $44.46 in the first quarter - and $121.18 in the second quarter of 2008.

Tobacco seller Lorillard Inc. said Monday that its second-quarter profit climbed 32 percent, more than twice the increase Wall Street expected, as the company raised prices and sold more cigarettes.

The Greensboro, N.C.-based company - whose its Newport menthol brand increased in market share during the quarter - earned $286 million, or $1.71 per share, for the period ended June 30, up from $217 million, or $1.25 per share, a year earlier. Lorillard said the figures do not include any one-time items.

Honeywell International Inc. said second quarter earnings dropped 38 percent as the company's businesses in troubled sectors like automobiles and construction continued to drag down its results.

The company said it doesn't expect any recovery this year from the recession, as customers such as airlines are expected to keep holding off on the purchase of Honeywell parts as they struggle with their own financial problems.

The Morristown, N.J.-based diversified manufacturer earned $450 million, or 60 cents per share, in the three months ended June 30, down from $723 million, or 96 cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue fell 22 percent to $7.56 billion from $9.67 billion a year ago. Analysts were expecting revenue of $7.73 billion.

Cost-cutting at Verizon Communications Inc.'s wireline business failed to keep pace with falling revenues as the nation's largest wireless carrier reported a 21 percent drop in second-quarter profit and announced further job cuts.

The company said it will cut more than 8,000 employee and contractor jobs before the end of the year in the wireline business, speeding up its efforts to keep costs in line, according to chief financial officer John Killian.

Verizon earned $1.48 billion, or 52 cents per share, in the three months ended June 30. That's down from $1.88 billion, or 66 cents per share, a year ago.

Scott Depot, W.Va.-based International Coal Group said it earned $10.4 million, or 7 cents per share, compared with $13.8 million, or 8 cents per share, in second-quarter 2008. ICG said the 2009 results included a non-cash $7.7 million gain related to terminating a coal sales deal, while the second-quarter 2008 numbers included a $24.6 million gain on a property swap. Revenue from operations in West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia and Illinois was essentially flat at $277.8 million, compared with $277.9 million in 2008. Analysts were predicting 2 cents per share on $307.33 million in revenue.

Abingdon, Va.-based Alpha Natural Resources said it earned $15.4 million, or 22 cents per share, in the quarter, down from $67.1 million, or 94 cents per share, a year earlier. Coal revenue dropped to $333.9 million, from $604.7 million.

Media conglomerate Time Warner Inc. said second-quarter profit shrank 34 percent as the ad slump and slow DVD sales hurt revenue in the company's publishing, movie and online properties.

Time Warner, which owns the Warner Bros. movie studio, the HBO and Turner cable networks, Time Inc. magazines and the AOL Internet portal, earned $519 million, or 43 cents per share, in the three months ended in June. That's down from $792 million, or 66 cents per share, a year earlier.

Nissan reported a $175.5 million loss for the fiscal first quarter Wednesday and unveiled plans to build more cars in China, one of the few auto markets where sales are still growing.

Sales dropped 35.5 percent from a year earlier to $161.15 billion.

Nissan's global sales totaled 723,000 vehicles, down 22.8 percent from the same period the previous year.

Vehicle sales dropped in the U.S., Europe and Japan but were strong in China, surging 9.3 percent during the quarter to 145,000 vehicles.

Honda posted a $79.8 million profit for the April to June quarter.

Honda's quarterly sales tumbled 30.2 percent to $21.3 billion.

It sold 766,000 vehicles around the world during the quarter, down 20.4 percent, mainly because of crashing sales in the key North American market.

Candy and gum maker Cadbury PLC of Great Britain tripled net profit in the first half of the year as the company pocketed a strong gain from its discontinued beverage business and as people ate more chocolate during the recession.

The company, which makes Cadbury chocolates, Trident and Dentyne gum, said net profit was $513 million.

Revenue was up 13 percent.

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. said cheaper advertising and its bigger film lineup will mean cost savings ahead.

The animated movie house said producing more movies - five every two years instead of four previously - with roughly same number of employees will help it save, by 2011, up to 10 percent per film, which generally cost $150 million or more to produce.

DreamWorks earned $26 million, or 30 cents per share, in the second quarter, down slightly from $27 million, or 30 cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue fell 7 percent to $132 million.

General Dynamics Corp.'s second-quarter earnings edged down 3.6 percent from results that included one-time gains a year ago.

Falls Church, Va.-based General Dynamics reported earnings of $618 million, or $1.60 per share, compared with $641 million, or $1.60 per share, a year ago. The year-ago results included a 9-cent per share gain from tax benefits.

Revenue grew nearly 11 percent to $8.1 billion on higher sales in its divisions that make armored vehicles, tanks and submarines.

Waste Management, the nation's largest trash hauler, said second-quarter profit dropped sharply due largely to falling recycling and energy prices.

Net income totaled $247 million, or 50 cents per share, down 22 percent from $318 million, or 64 cents per share, last year.

Revenue for the quarter ended June 30 fell 15 percent, to $2.95 billion from $3.49 billion a year ago.

Kellogg Co. reported second-quarter profits that beat expectations and saying it expects full year results at the high end of its goal.

The world's largest cereal maker said its profit rose 13 percent to $353 million, or 92 cents per share for the quarter, from $312 million, or 82 cents per share last year.

Kellogg, which makes Frosted Flakes, Cheez-Its, Eggo waffles and other popular foods, said commodity prices for key ingredients stabilized, which helped its margins, though the stronger dollar hurt the company's sales.

Revenue fell 3 percent to $3.23 billion from $3.34 billion last year.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber reported a $221 million loss in the second quarter as U.S. auto industry upheaval and the global recession cut sales 25 percent from a year ago.

The Akron-based tire maker said it lost 92 cents per share on sales of $3.9 billion. In the second quarter of 2008, Goodyear earned $75 million, or 31 cents per share, on sales of $5.2 billion.

Excluding one-time charges for plant-closing expenses, asset write-offs and others items, Goodyear lost 35 cents per share. For the first six months of 2009, Goodyear lost $554 million, or $2.30 per share, on sales of $7.5 billion, compared with earnings of $222 million, or 91 cents per share, on sales of $10.2 billion in the first half of 2008.

Consumer products maker Colgate-Palmolive said Thursday its second-quarter profit rose 14 percent, but soft sales sent the stock down in midday trading.

The New York-based maker of toothpaste, dish soap and Hill's Science Diet pet food earned $561.6 million, or $1.07 per share, in the quarter that ended in June.

Consumer products maker Colgate-Palmolive said Thursday its second-quarter profit rose 14 percent, but soft sales sent the stock down in midday trading.

The New York-based maker of toothpaste, dish soap and Hill's Science Diet pet food earned $561.6 million, or $1.07 per share, in the quarter that ended in June.

Armored car company Brink's Co. said its second-quarter profit plunged 58 percent to $20.3 million as sales slipped nearly 6 percent.

The company cited persistent economic weakness throughout its global markets, higher foreign currency transaction costs and higher pension expenses.

The profit for the three months ended June 30 was equivalent to 44 cents a share, compared with a profit of $48.7 million, or $1.05 a share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue in the quarter fell to $751.9 million from $797.8 million in the same period a year earlier.

Newell Rubbermaid's second-quarter earnings rose 14 percent on lower material costs and a decision to stop making some less-profitable products.

Adjusted results for the maker of storage containers, office supplies and cookware were down 3 percent compared with last year's adjusted figures, the company said Thursday

For the three months that ended June 30, Atlanta-based Newell Rubbermaid earned $105.7 million, or 38 cents per share. That compares with a year-ago profit of $92.5 million, or 33 cents per share. Sales fell nearly 18 percent to $1.5 billion, down from $1.83 billion, mostly because of the product reductions.

Motorola Inc. on Thursday posted an unexpected profit for the second quarter after several quarters of losses, and said it expected things to keep improving this year.

While sales continued to decline from last year, Motorola said the cost cuts, including 8,000 layoffs so far this year, set the stage for a comeback from its long-suffering cell phone unit. Its shares surged 12 percent on news of the outlook.

The Schaumburg, Ill.-based electronics company earned $26 million, or 1 cent per share, in the three months ended July 4. That's up from $4 million, or break-even per share, a year ago.

The latest results were boosted 2 cents per share by various one-time effects, but even so, Motorola exceeded its own forecast, which called for a loss of 3 cents to 5 cents per share, excluding the cost of its restructuring initiatives. Motorola's sales fell 32 percent from a year ago to $5.5 billion from $8.1 billion a year ago. Analysts were looking for revenue of $5.6 billion for the latest quarter.

Consol Energy says its first-quarter profit rose 12 percent on higher coal prices.

Canonsburg, Pa.-based Consol said it earned $113.3 million, or 62 cents per share, in the period, compared with $101 million, or 54 cents per share, in second-quarter 2008. Revenue fell to $1.07 billion, from $1.2 billion in 2008.

Production decreased, but Consol says prices rose 16 percent per ton.

Visa Inc. said its fiscal third-quarter profit jumped 72 percent, as recent cost-cutting helped offset declining payment processing volume.

The world's largest electronic payment network reported net income of $729 million, or 97 cents per share, for the three months ended June 30. That's up from a profit of $422 million, or 51 cents per share, in the year-ago period.