Tag: stock market

SunEdison Inc. shares surged 35% in premarket trade, after the company’s independent directors and audit committee said they had completed a probe of past accounting and found no material misstatements in historical financials or evidence to support a finding of fraud or wilful misconduct by management, apart from by one former non-executive employee. However, “the independent counsel materials identified issues with the company’s overly optimistic culture and its tone at the top,” auditors and directors said in a regulatory filing. Specifically, the company’s cash forecasting efforts lacked controls and were “overly optimistic and a more fulsome discussion of risks and adjustments with the Board was warranted.” The company also lacked controls regarding cash flow management. The wrongdoing by a former employee related to negotiations over the termination of the acquisition of Vivint Solar Inc. . The employee has been terminated. The directors will now require management to provide greater transparency to the board. Shares have lost 92% of their value in the year so far.

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Delta Air Lines Inc.’s stock jumped 1.9% in premarket trade Thursday, after the air carrier beat first-quarter profit expectations. Earnings rose to $946 million, or $1.21 a share, from $746 million, or 90 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as mark-to-market adjustments on fuel hedges, adjusted earnings per share were $1.32, above the FactSet consensus of $1.30. Revenue slipped 1.5% to $9.25 billion, just shy of the FactSet consensus of $9.27 billion, as a rise in domestic passenger revenue was offset by declines in international passenger revenue and cargo revenue. Passenger unit revenue fell 4.6%, as capacity increased 2.7%. For the second quarter, Delta expects passenger unit revenue to decline 2.5% to 4.5% while system capacity is seen increasing 2% to 3%. The stock has lost 5.2% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.9%.

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The Bank of England on Thursday kept its key interest rate at a record low of 0.5% and made no changes to its 375-billion-pound ($529.99 billion) asset purchase program. The vote was unanimous. Policy makers were widely expected to leave rates where they’ve been since March 2009 ahead of the U.K.’s EU referendum on June 23 on whether to stay in or leave the union. Polls are currently neck-to-neck, sparking jitters in the U.K. financial markets. “There are some signs that uncertainty relating to the EU referendum has begun to weigh on certain areas of activity, as some decisions, including on capital expenditure and commercial property transactions, are being postponed pending the outcome of the vote,” the central bank said in its minutes. “This might lead to some softening in growth during the first half of 2016,” it added. The pound traded at $1.4158 after the BOE decision, slightly higher than $1.4137 ahead of the call.

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The Bank of England on Thursday kept its key interest rate at a record low of 0.5% and made no changes to its 375-billion-pound ($529.99 billion) asset purchase program. The vote was unanimous. Policy makers were widely expected to leave rates where they’ve been since March 2009 ahead of the U.K.’s EU referendum on June 23 on whether to stay in or leave the union. Polls are currently neck-to-neck, sparking jitters in the U.K. financial markets. “There are some signs that uncertainty relating to the EU referendum has begun to weigh on certain areas of activity, as some decisions, including on capital expenditure and commercial property transactions, are being postponed pending the outcome of the vote,” the central bank said in its minutes. “This might lead to some softening in growth during the first half of 2016,” it added. The pound traded at $1.4158 after the BOE decision, slightly higher than $1.4137 ahead of the call.

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Carnival Corporation said Thursday that it is increasing its dividend by 17% to $0.35 a share. “The increase in our quarterly dividend follows a 20 percent increase less than a year ago and reflects our sustained earnings improvement and growing net cash flow which is forecasted to reach $4.5 billion in 2016,” said Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation, in the press release. The record date for the dividend is May 27, 2016 and it will be payed June 17, 2016. Shares of Carnival were down 1% in premarket trade Thursday.

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Kohl’s Corp. confirmed Wednesday that its executive vice president of marketing, Will Setliff, has left the company. “Will Setliff has announced his resignation from Kohl’s, effective this week. We thank Will for his many contributions to Kohl’s during his service and wish him well in his future endeavors,” the retailer said in a statement emailed to MarketWatch. Michelle Gass, Kohl’s chief merchandising officer, will continue to oversee the company’s marketing. Kohl’s also confirmed that it is conducting an external search for Setliff’s successor. Kohl’s shares closed up 1.3%, but are down 44.4% for the past year. The S&P 500 is down 0.5% for the past 12 months.

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Gap Inc. said Wednesday that it has named Sonia Syngal global president of Old Navy, effective immediately. Syngal has been with Gap Inc. for 12 years and previously served as senior vice president of Old Navy’s international division in 2013. She was most recently the executive vice president of global supply chain and product operations for Gap Inc. She succeeds Jill Stanton, who has been interim head of Old Navy since Oct. 2015. She stepped into the role when Stefan Larsson left the brand to become chief executive of Ralph Lauren Corp. . She will continue as a strategic advisor to Old Navy “to support a seamless transition,” according to the press release. Both Syngal and Stanton will oversee the company’s global supply chain and logistics. The Old Navy brand reported a 6% same-store sales decline for the month of March. Gap shares closed up 1.5%, but are down 3.1% for the year so far. The S&P 500 is up 1.9% for the year to date.

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From:: Stock Market News

Gap Inc. said Wednesday that it has named Sonia Syngal global president of Old Navy, effective immediately. Syngal has been with Gap Inc. for 12 years and previously served as senior vice president of Old Navy’s international division in 2013. She was most recently the executive vice president of global supply chain and product operations for Gap Inc. She succeeds Jill Stanton, who has been interim head of Old Navy since Oct. 2015. She stepped into the role when Stefan Larsson left the brand to become chief executive of Ralph Lauren Corp. . She will continue as a strategic advisor to Old Navy “to support a seamless transition,” according to the press release. Both Syngal and Stanton will oversee the company’s global supply chain and logistics. The Old Navy brand reported a 6% same-store sales decline for the month of March. Gap shares closed up 1.5%, but are down 3.1% for the year so far. The S&P 500 is up 1.9% for the year to date.

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Derivatives marketplace CME Group announced Wednesday that it plans to shut its New York trading floor at the end of the year because open outcry options volume on the floor represent only 0.3% of the company’s overall energy and metals trading volumes. The options products will be listed and available for trading on CME Globex. Last summer, CME Group ended virtually all open outcry futures trading, also known as pit trading of futures contracts, in both New York and Chicago. The company’s Chicago trading floor will remain open for trading of options on futures contracts and S&P 500 futures contracts.

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Pier 1 Imports Inc. shares rose 4% late Wednesday after the furniture and home goods retailer reported fourth-quarter earnings and sales above Wall Street expectations. Pier 1 said its net income fell to $18.7 million, or 23 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $33.1 million, or 37 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, the company said it earned 39 cents a share. Sales fell 1.4% to $542.3 million in the quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected Pier 1 to report earnings of 21 cents a share on sales of $534 million. Shares had ended the regular trading session up 5.6%.

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