26-01-06, 12:34 PM
|
#6
|
|
===\/------/\===
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 2,704
|
Record profits as the poor get screwed
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition...arns26.art.htm
OIL
Quote:
No. 3 U.S. oil company ConocoPhillips on Wednesday reported a 50% jump in quarterly profit to sail past forecasts, propelled by soaring oil and gas prices.
The results capped the most profitable year in the company's history and extended its streak of beating analysts' estimates to a 12th-consecutive quarter.
|
'LEGAL' DRUGS
Quote:
|
The drugmaker posted a higher fourth-quarter profit because of lower taxes, but warned that 2006 earnings might fall as much as 20% as its Pravachol cholesterol drug and other drugs face generic competition. Full-year 2005 profit fell 18% as several of its drugs lost sales to generics, but the company said profit growth should resume in 2007.
|
HEALTH CARE
Quote:
|
The USA's largest health insurer said fourth-quarter profit more than tripled on strong revenue and membership growth due to the 2004 combination of Anthem and WellPoint Health Networks.
|
MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
Quote:
The No. 5 U.S. defense contractor said quarterly profit rose a greater-than-expected 21%, helped by sales of military gear, electronic radio systems and Gulfstream business jets. But it forecast full-year profit below estimates, as it deals with slower growth in Pentagon spending and starts to account for the cost of stock options given to employees.
The maker of Abrams tanks and Stryker fighting vehicles had fourth-quarter net profit of $406 million, or $2 a share, vs. $336 million, or $1.66, a year earlier. That beat forecasts of $1.97 a share, Reuters Estimates says. General Dynamics stock fell $1.46 to $114.34.
The company reported higher sales of its combat vehicles and a wide range of electronics used by the U.S. military for communications, computing, intelligence and reconnaissance. Its Gulfstream unit delivered 24 business jets in the quarter, up from 21 a year earlier.
General Dynamics, which also makes nuclear-powered submarines and destroyers, is vulnerable to Pentagon budget cuts but has benefited recently from the cyclical surge in commercial plane orders.
|
|
|
|