Sees earnings growth and higher margins next year
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LONDON (CBS.MW) -- Allied Domecq, the UK drinks and fast-food group, said Thursday pretax profit for the year rose driven by better trading of spirits and wines in the US and UK despite sales remaining flat.
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Apple rises with a forecast of higher earnings.
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The company's upcoming earnings increases aren't exactly the stuff of investment dreams.
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When 2004 earnings reports start pouring into the market next week, stocks are likely to stick to a sideways trend, market strategists say.
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OTTAWA (CP) - Profits at Canadian retailers are forecast to rise by nearly one-third this year, according to a report by the Conference Board of Canada.
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Growth in the Scottish economy will continue its upward trend into next year, according to a report.
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Discount brokerage Charles Schwab Corp.  said on Monday its earnings could hit $1 billion this year, or almost $100 million ahead of its plan.
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Applebee&#39;s International Inc. said Thursday it expects annual earnings per share to grow from 14 percent to 17 percent over the next three to five years beginning in 2005.
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Heading into the heart of earnings  season this week the expected results look robust, but a  slowing of future profit growth and the impact of surging oil  prices on the economy could conspire to hold down stocks.
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Financial group Fortis has reported a bigger-than-expected rise in earnings and says it is growing more upbeat about 2004, with both its banking and insurance units posting strong gains.
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Stock futures rose slightly on Wednesday before figures on third-quarter economic growth, which could be revised higher, suggesting continued corporate profit growth.
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Heading into the heart of earnings  season next week the expected results look robust, but a  slowing of future profit growth and the impact of surging oil  prices on the economy could conspire to hold down stocks.
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Hewlett-Packard reported solid financial results for its fiscal first quarter, driven by growth in PCs and enterprise hardware. The results prompted HP to raise its forecast for the year ahead.Revenue for the quarter, which ended Jan. 31, was $28.5 billion, up 13 percent from a year earlier, HP announced Tuesday. Pro forma net income was $2.3 billion, or $0.86 per share, up from $1.8 billion, or $0.65 per share, a year earlier.The figures beat the expectations of financial analysts, who had forecast revenue of $27.6 billion and pro forma earnings per share of $0.81, according to Thomson First Call. The pro forma figure excludes one-time items that slightly inflated the results. Using generally accepted accounting principles, HP&#39;s profit was $2.1 billion, or $0.80 per share.HP&#39;s Personal Systems Group, which produces its laptop and desktop PCs, grew its revenue 24 percent from the same period a year earlier, to $10.8 billion, with unit shipments up 27 percent. Notebook sales climbed fastest, up 37 percent, while desktop sales climbed 15 percent.The division had already been doing well. HP extended its lead over Dell in PC sales last year, according to figures from Gartner. HP ended the year with 18.2 percent of the market, compared with 14.3 percent for Dell. The PC market overall grew 13.4 percent.HP may find it hard to sustain that growth rate, in part because it has to make comparisons with increasingly successful quarters in the year before, CEO Mark Hurd said on a conference call. Still, Hurd said, &quot;when you look at 24 percent growth, I think that&#39;s pretty darned strong.&quot;HP&#39;s imaging and printing group performed slightly less well, with revenue climbing 4 percent to $7.3 billion. Printer unit sales declined by 1 percent from a year earlier, thanks to weakness in the consumer market. Revenue from supplies, which includes HP&#39;s profitable ink business, climbed 6 percent, however.Revenue from the servers and storage group climbed 9 percent to $4.8 billion. Sales of blades and industry-standard servers were strong, while HP&#39;s PA-RISC and Alpha chip businesses continued to shrink. Services revenue climbed 11 percent year-over-year to $4.4 billion, while software sales climbed 11 percent to $666 million, HP said.Hurd said he was pleased with the results overall. He attributed them to successful cost-cutting efforts, the addition of 2,000 new HP sales staff in the past year, and a diverse product portfolio.HP generates an increasing amount of its business overseas, he said. Its biggest market continued to be Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where revenue grew 15 percent to $12.3 billion. Asia-Pacific revenue climbed 22 percent to $4.9 billion. Growth in the Americas was a sluggish 8 percent, generating $11.2 billion.&quot;We generated 69 percent of our revenue outside the U.S., with emerging markets driving significant growth,&quot; Hurd said.The company now expects second-quarter revenue of $27.7 billion to $27.9 billion, and pro forma earnings per share of $0.83 or $0.84. That&#39;s above what analysts polled by Thomson had been estimating: pro forma profit of $0.82 and revenue of $27.4 billion.
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Diversified manufacturer United Technologies Corp.  expects profit to grow by 10 percent to 14 percent next year, as strength in aerospace and commercial construction offsets the effects of a slowing U.S. housing market.
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Will investors see a sharp earnings increase in 2005?
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Will it return more than 900% this year, too?
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The company reported strong fiscal second-quarter results and positive trends seem likely to continue to drive healthy growth.