Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, or ASUR, reported second-quarter 2013 revenue growth of 8.2%, excluding passed-through construction service revenue, as traffic increased 10.0% from the prior period. Strong operational controls resulted in operating margin expansion to 58.6% from 57.8% last year. EBITDA grew 8.7% year over year, and margins were 67.2% as compared with 66.8% posted in the same period last year. Traffic was 5.2 million passengers for the quarter, lower than the record of 5.5 million passengers in the first quarter of 2013 as the Easter shift may have helped first-quarter numbers at the expense of the second quarter. Nonaeronautical…
Author: Ross Shultz
The long-awaited results of the review by Yale University of Medtronic’s Infuse bone morphogenic protein turned out to be disappointing. Analysts have revised projections for Infuse sales to reflect continued declines, rather than eventual stabilization. We note that even though this reanalysis of the clinical data is likely a death knell for the Infuse product, Medtronic remains a powerhouse when it comes to device innovation across many therapeutic applications, and its moat is as wide as ever. While the independent review of Infuse clinical data confirmed that the product is generally safe and effective for promoting bone growth, there was…
DST Systems reported first-quarter results that were in line with expectations. DST’s first-quarter revenue totaled $495 million, up 4.1% compared with the year-ago period. The company’s growth during the quarter was largely driven by the Customer Communications segment, which benefited from higher volume due to delivery of year-end statements and tax forms. Revenue from Customer Communications totaled $173 million, an increase of 6% from the prior-year period. This segment witnessed notable improvements in both the number of images produced as well as the packages mailed during the quarter. Benefiting from the inherent operating leverage, Customer Communications reported strong improvement in…
France Telecom is one of the best players in the wireless markets in the world. It is dominating the fixed-line phone and wireless services segments in both France and Poland and it has been doing an excellent job operating in these markets and taking advantage of its position to generate stable cash flow and revenues over the years. Howver, the company has been struggling since Iliad entered aggresively in the French wireless market, which caused other companies to reduce their prices. In this way, France Telecom has reduced its free cash flow forecast to around 7 billion euro for 2013,…
Diageo’s discussions to acquire tequila maker Jose Cuervo have ended, and the spirit makers’ distribution agreement will expire without renewal at the end of June 2013. Jose Cuervo, which was one of Diageo’s 11 strategic brands, saw volume decline 5% during fiscal 2012 to around 4 million 9-liter cases. Overall, Cuervo represented just 2.5% of Diageo’s overall volume, so the loss of the business should have a minimal impact on Diageo’s bottom line, and we are maintaining our fair value estimates of $95 and GBP 15. Shares are currently trading at a more than a 25% premium to our fair…
Adidas’ fourth-quarter sales and earnings came in slightly below expectations even when backing out charges and write-downs related to fraud in its Reebok India unit, but we are encouraged by the company’s ability to hold gross margins in a tough macro and rising input cost environment. The company now sees operating margins approaching 9% in 2013 and beyond, and its mid-single-digit growth forecast sounds conservative. However, 2012 included a number of tailwinds such as the European soccer championships and the London Olympics, making it a tough basis for comparison. Coming off such a strong year, shares are now above our…
Deutsche Boerse DB1 reported a 50% year-over-year decline in profits for the third quarter, as the German exchange operator was hurt by a weak trading environment that has constricted volumes. The company’s current revenue expectations fell short of analysts projections. For the third quarter, Deutsche Boerse earned EUR 160 million, down from EUR 317 million in 2011’s third quarter. On a per-share basis earnings fell to EUR 0.85 (0.87 when adjusted for unusual items) from EUR 1.70. Net revenue slumped by nearly 19% on a year-over-year basis to EUR 471 million. The company has booked close to EUR 1.5 billion…
National Bank of Greece reported a EUR 554 million ($720 million) loss in the third quarter. This brings 2012’s year-to-date losses to EUR 2,458 million, compared with a EUR 1,325 million loss in the first nine months of 2011. Heavy provisions for bad loans and deeper trading provisions were largely behind the worsening of Greece’s largest bank’s bottom line. The bank’s credit quality and capital position deteriorated further. Greece’s recession keeps pounding NBG very hard, pushing the bad-loan balance to new highs. As at Sept. 30, the group’s overall nonperforming loan ratio (loans past due 90 or more days) climbed…
Broadcom reported solid first-quarter results and gave investors a second-quarter outlook that was modestly ahead of expectations. Broadcom’s revenue was $2.0 billion, notably ahead the firm’s forecast of $1.90 billion discussed in late January. Sales were down 4% sequentially but up 10% from the year ago quarter. Broadcom’s wireless chip business was down only 2% sequentially from the seasonally strong March quarter, better than initially anticipated by the company, as Broadcom saw nice sales of 5G WiFi chips in the quarter and may also have received a boost in orders from Samsung ahead of its Galaxy S4 launch in the…
Phillips 66 PSX reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.4 billion compared with $764 million a year ago. All segments with the exception of the midstream segment posted improved adjusted earnings. The refining segment saw adjusted earnings rise to $909 million from $454 million a year earlier thanks to higher product margins and greater throughput of cost-advantaged crude. During the quarter, Phillips 66 increased its throughput of advantaged crude, including Canadian heavy, WTI-based crude and discount unconventional crude, to 68% of the total from 60% last year. Phillips 66’s midstream segment saw first-quarter adjusted earnings fall to $83 million from $108…
Piper Jaffray Companies reported net income applicable to common shareholders of $9 million, or $0.57 per diluted share, on $110 million of net revenue for the first quarter of 2013. The 7% decrease in revenue from the previous year was due mainly to lower equity underwriting revenue, while the 22% sequential decrease in net revenue was from lower financial advisory. The $35 million, nearly 80%, decrease in financial advisory revenue was to be expected, as many investment banks reported strong fourthquarter M&A revenue from clients wanting to complete deals before U.S. tax laws changed. Overall, the first quarter’s revenue wasn’t…
Ford Motor Company reported first quarter results that beat consensus. Adjusted EPS came in at $0.41 versus consensus expectations of $0.37 thanks to Ford’s continued outstanding performance in North America. First quarter automotive margin was 5.2%, about in-line with our model. With the European auto market in a severe recession, if not depression, and Ford still growing off of a small base in Asia while recouping its investment costs there, analysts expect the rest of 2013 to have a similar pattern to the first quarter. Specifically, investors expect continued very strong results from North America and weak results from the…