Earnings news briefs for February 17, 2004

Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2004 | 10:37 a.m.

Flat-panel sales help profit

TOKYO -- Strong sales in flat-panel TVs and digital video recorders sent Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.'s profit up 8 percent for the October-December quarter, and the Japanese electronics maker behind the Panasonic brand raised its full-year profit forecast.

The Osaka-based manufacturer reported last week a group profit of 24.2 billion yen ($228 million) for the last three months of 2003, up from 22.4 billion yen a year ago.

Sales were up 5 percent to 2.03 trillion yen ($19 billion) from 1.94 trillion yen a year ago, growing both in Japan and overseas, the company said.

Healthy demand for flat-panel TVs, DVD recorders, cell phones, computer chips and dishwashers during the quarter helped offset the effect of the weak dollar, which reduced the value of the company's overseas earnings.

Higher revenue drives profit gain

MOLINE, Ill. -- Increased sales helped Deere & Co. more than double its first-quarter profits, exceeding analysts expectations and boosting the equipment maker's stock sharply today.

First-quarter net earnings totaled $178.8 million or 68 cents per share, up 151 percent from $68 million, or 28 cents per share, a year earlier. That easily topped the consensus estimate of 52 cents a share of Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

Revenue rose 25 percent to $3.48 billion, up from $2.79 billion during the same period last year.

Deere said sales of agricultural, construction and consumer products rose 29 percent in the United States and Canada and were up 26 percent in foreign markets for the quarter that ended Jan. 31.

"All equipment divisions are benefiting from improving market conditions and continued positive customer response to our products," said Deere Chairman and CEO Robert W. Lane.

Deere shares jumped $3.45, or 5.39 percent, to $67.46 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Lane said a weak dollar helped foreign sales, and that overall profits were aided by Deere's continuing efforts to hold down costs.

"Recent performance shows clear evidence that we are indeed building a better business," Lane said.

First profit in three years posted

STOCKHOLM -- The telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson surprised markets by reporting its first quarterly profit since 2001, and said that worldwide demand for its products may grow in 2004.

The company, which is based in Stockholm, Sweden, reported last week a slim net profit of 142 million Swedish kronor ($19.4 million) for the fourth quarter, after a loss of 8.3 billion kronor in the same period a year ago. The company posted a fourth-quarter pretax profit, which does not include restructuring and one-time items, of 5.5 billion kronor, a turnaround from a 2.1 billion kronor loss in the 2003 period.

Profit in the fourth quarter was predominantly the result of cost cutting. The mobile phone operators who are Ericsson's main customers are starting to reinvest in infrastructure, after cutting costs themselves for most of 2003.