Business briefs for Jan. 27, 2004

Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2004 | 11:03 a.m.

Profit rises at pipeline firm

HOUSTON -- Kinder Morgan Inc., which operates more than 35,000 miles of natural-gas and fuel pipelines in the U.S., said fourth-quarter profit rose 31 percent.

Net income rose to $80.8 million, or 65 cents a share, from $61.5 million, or 50 cents, a year earlier, the Houston-based company said in a statement. Revenue fell to $280.2 million from $285 million.

The company has increased earnings mostly through acquisitions by affiliate Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP, the world's largest publicly traded pipeline partnership by market value. The partnership last month said it spent almost $400 million in 2003 to buy U.S. terminals, pipelines and storage facilities.

Kinder Morgan owns and operates the CalNev Pipeline which delivers fuel from Southern California to Las Vegas. It is the only pipeline supply of gasoline, jet fuel and diesel to the valley. The company has 13 employees at its Las Vegas terminal.

Company swings to profit

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Consumer products company Dial Corp. Monday posted a fourth-quarter profit, reversing a loss from a year ago, as the company's laundry-detergent business helped boost sales 3.9 percent.

The maker of Dial soap and Purex laundry detergent reported net income of $24.9 million, or 26 cents a share, for the quarter, compared with a loss of $29.2 million, or 31 cents a share, in the same quarter a year ago.

However, results for the latest quarter included a writedown of 10 cents a share for Dial's Guatemalan operations and a charge of 2 cents a share for Henke KGaA's pending acquisition of the company. The German consumer-products group last month agreed to acquire Dial for about $2.9 billion. The deal should close by the end of April.

Excluding items, Dial said it would have earned $36.2 million, or 37 cents a share.

Chicken, pork prices fuel results

SPRINGDALE, Ark. -- Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat processor, said first-quarter profit rose 46 percent on higher sales and prices for chicken and pork. Shares of Tyson had their biggest gain in 17 months.

Net income for the quarter ended Dec. 27 rose to $57 million, or 16 cents a share, from $39 million, or 11 cents, during the same period a year earlier, Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson said. Revenue rose to $6.5 billion from $5.8 billion.

Operating profit in chicken surged almost ninefold to $116 million and pork earnings doubled to $49 million, as prices and volume both improved, Tyson said. The beef business, Tyson's largest by sales, had a loss, as exports dropped after the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was disclosed Dec. 23. Tyson executives said the biggest overseas buyers of U.S. beef may resume imports within three months.

Schick makes for slick quarter

ST. LOUIS -- Energizer Holdings Inc., the No. 2 U.S. battery maker, said its fiscal first-quarter earnings surged 33 percent, helped by the March addition of the Schick razor business and a falling U.S. dollar.

Net income rose to $115 million, or $1.32 a share, from $86.4 million, or 95 cents, a year earlier, the St. Louis-based company said. The results were 30 cents above Wall Street expectations. Sales for the period ended Dec. 31 rose 42 percent to $811.7 million from a year ago.

Energizer, which competes with No. 1 razor maker Gillette Co., boosted razor sales through efforts such as the September introduction of Schick Quattro, the world's first four-blade razor. The company is adding products such as the Energizer e2 Lithium AAA battery to try to take business from Gillette's top- selling Duracell line and smaller brands.

Chipmaker profitable

DALLAS -- Texas Instruments Inc. said that it earned $512 million in the fourth quarter, reversing a loss a year earlier, in another sign that the semiconductor industry is digging out after a long slump.

Dallas-based TI, which makes chips used in half the world's mobile phones, said it earned 29 cents per share, compared to a loss of $589 million, or 34 cents per share, a year earlier.

The earnings included 7 cents per share from TI's sale of a stake in Micron Technology Inc. and 2 cents per share in reduced estimated taxes, leaving 20 cents per share in operating profit.

Revenue rose to $2.77 billion from $2.53 billion, spurred by demand for computer chips called digital signal processors in wireless devices, digital cameras, audio players and high-speed Internet.

U.S. sales continue to rise

OAK BROOK, Ill. -- McDonald's Corp., the world's largest chain of hamburger restaurants, posted fourth-quarter net income of $125.7 million as U.S. sales increased, helped by new menu offerings such as white-meat Chicken McNuggets.

Net income of 10 cents a share compares with a loss of $343.8 million, or 27 cents, a year earlier, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based firmsaid. Revenue rose to $4.56 billion from $3.9 billion.

Expectations met

NEW YORK -- American Express, the consumer finance and travel company, reported a 12 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit.

The New-York based company said net income totaled $763 million, or 59 cents a share, up from $683 million, or 52 cents a share, a year earlier.

The results -- which included a $20 million charge for an accounting change -- were on target with Wall Street expectations.

Revenue for the quarter was $7.07 billion, up 14 percent from $6.2 billion in the year-earlier quarter.