Among companies reporting quarterly earnings on Thursday were Safeway Stores Inc. (NYSE: SWY), the largest food retailer in North America, and Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM), one of the world's largest gold producers.
Despite ongoing efforts to upgrade the image of its stores, Safeway, which reported that fourth-quarter earnings in-line with the consensus estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, also reported that same-store sales slowed.
The quarterly earnings came to $301.1 million, or 68 cents per share, for the period that ended December 29, down 2% from $307.9 million, or 69 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2006, when tax benefits lifted results. Excluding that gain, earnings per share would have climbed by more than 11%. Fourth-quarter revenue rose 7% to $13.36 billion, which beat the analysts' average estimates.
Despite signs of a slowdown, the fourth quarter capped Safeway's most profitable year since 2001. The company earned $888.4 million, or $1.99 per share, on sales of $42.3 billion, compared to earnings of $870.6 million, or $1.94 per share, on revenue of $40.2 billion in 2006. For 2008, Safeway forecast earnings of $2.25 to $2.35 per share, in-line with analysts' expectations.
Safeway shares fell more than $3 in morning trading, reaching a new 52-week low of $28.80.
Despite rising gold prices, Newmont reported that it swung to a loss in the fourth quarter due to a $1.1 billion non-cash charge for reserve replacement and new accounting rule requirements, as well as lower gold sales.
For the quarter ending December 31, the company posted a net loss of $289 million, or 63 cents a share, compared with net income of $223 million, or 49 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue slipped to $1.41 billion from $1.42 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected a profit of 37 cents per share on revenue of $1.47 billion.
For the year, Newmont reported a net loss of $1.9 billion, or $4.17 a share, compared with $791 million, or $1.75 a share, in 2006. But revenue rose to $5.53 billion from $4.9 billion.
Newmont shares fell more than a dollar in morning trading before beginning to recover. Shares are still off their 52-week high of $57.55 back in January.
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