BUSINESS BRIEFS
Microsoft profit down, but still beat the forecast
Advertiser Staff and News Services
SEATTLE — Microsoft Corp. said yesterday its fiscal third-quarter profit fell 11 percent from a year earlier, when the software maker reported more than $1 billion in deferred revenue tied to delays in the launch of the Windows Vista operating system.
Microsoft said its net profit for the three months ended March 31 fell to $4.39 billion, or 47 cents per share, from $4.93 billion, or 50 cents per share, in the same period last year.
The results still beat Wall Street's expectations. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast a profit of 44 cents per share.
FORD SHARES SOAR ON SURPRISE PROFIT
DEARBORN, Mich. — Despite a surprise profit of $100 million for the first quarter, Ford Motor Co. said yesterday that it still expects to lose money this year as the U.S. auto market deteriorates.
But the company's stock surged nearly 12 percent as CEO Alan Mulally reiterated his promise that restructuring will return Ford to black ink for 2009.
The profit, Ford's first since the second quarter of last year, came even during a time when concerns about the U.S. economy kept many car buyers away from showrooms. Ford sales were off about 9 percent for the quarter, and the trend away from trucks and sport utility vehicles accelerated, hurting its bottom line.
Yet Ford said it earned money anyway because of strong profits in Europe and South America, manufacturing cost reductions and successful hedging on commodity price increases.
NEW-HOME SALES PLUNGED IN MARCH
WASHINGTON — Sales of new homes plunged in March to the slowest pace in 16 1/2 years as a two-year housing downturn extended into the start of another spring sales season. The median price of a new home in March compared with a year ago fell at the fastest clip in 38 years.
Sales of new homes dropped by 8.5 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 526,000 units, the slowest sales pace since October 1991, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.
The median price of a home sold in March dropped by 13.3 percent compared with March 2007, the biggest year-over-year price decline since a 14.6 percent plunge in July 1970.
Housing, which boomed for five years, has been in a prolonged slump for the past two years with sales and home prices falling at especially sharp rates in formerly hot sales areas.
WENDY'S AGREES TO $2.3 BILLION DEAL
COLUMBUS, Ohio — After at least two rejections, billionaire Nelson Peltz has finally succeeded in landing Wendy's in a $2.3 billion deal that would add the chain known for its square burger and chocolate Frosty dessert to his ownership of Arby's and its roast beef sandwiches.
Now, the investor known for agitating corporations to boost their stock price has to figure out how to make both profitable while the economy slumps and more Americans are saving money on food and fuel by staying home to eat.
Atlanta-based Triarc Companies Inc., owned by Peltz, said yesterday it will pay about $2.34 billion in an all-stock deal for the nation's third-largest hamburger chain started in 1969 by Dave Thomas. Wendy's had rejected at least two buyout offers from Triarc.
Thomas' daughter Pam Thomas Farber said the family was devastated by the news.
MOTOROLA REPORTS $194 MILLION LOSS
CHICAGO — Struggling cell phone maker Motorola Inc. disappointed investors yesterday when it posted a wider first-quarter loss and failed to meet revenue forecasts.
The report sent shares down more than 5 percent, before they rebounded slightly.
The suburban Chicago company, which is in the midst of a massive reorganization that includes splitting itself into two publicly traded companies, said it lost $194 million, or 9 cents per share, for the quarter that ended March 31.
That's 7 percent more than a year earlier when it lost $181 million, or 8 cents per share. Excluding one-time charges related to massive job cuts, the company would have lost 5 cents per share.
Sales fell about 21 percent to $7.45 billion, down from $9.43 billion a year ago.
The performance fell short of Wall Street expectations.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial predicted, on average, a loss of 7 cents per share.
CONOCOPHILLIPS NETS $4.14 BILLION
HOUSTON — ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company, said yesterday its first quarter profit rose almost 17 percent as record high oil prices offset disruptions that hurt earnings from its refining operations.
The Houston-based company said net income rose to $4.14 billion, or $2.62 a share, for the January-March period, from $3.55 billion, or $2.12 a share, in the year-ago quarter.
On average, Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected earnings per share of $2.42.
ConocoPhillips said revenue rose to $54.9 billion from $41.3 billion a year ago. As expected, soaring crude prices in the first three months of the year gave ConocoPhillips a big lift. Crude prices have neared a record $120 a barrel in recent trading sessions.
