BUSINESS BRIEFS
Citigroup beats expectations with $2.5 billion loss
Advertiser news services
NEW YORK — Citigroup has become the latest big bank to quell Wall Street's worries about a financial sector implosion, posting a $2.5 billion second-quarter loss that was smaller than expected.
Citi rose nearly 9 percent yesterday and helped lift other financial stocks, having joined JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. in convincing investors that the prognosis for the sector, while gloomy, may not be as dire as the market feared.
Citigroup, the nation's largest banking company by assets, lost the equivalent of 54 cents per share in the April-June period. In the same time frame last year, the bank earned $6.23 billion, or $1.24 per share.
The shortfall was tamer than the 66-cent-per-share loss that analysts, on average, were expecting, according to Thomson Financial.
FREDDIE MAC REGISTERS AT SEC
NEW YORK — Mortgage financier Freddie Mac took a step toward issuing common and preferred stock to help bolster its balance sheet yesterday when the Securities and Exchange Commission accepted its registration statement filed earlier in the day.
Freddie has committed to raising at least $5.5 billion amid a turbulent time for it and fellow mortgage giant Fannie Mae. The pair have been hit hard over the past year by mounting losses tied to the downturn in the mortgage market, and the government was forced to step in over the weekend to reassure Wall Street of the companies' solvency.
Fannie Mae raised $7.4 billion earlier this year to strengthen its balance sheet, while Freddie Mac had indicated plans to raise $5.5 billion, but has been waiting to initiate the offerings because its stock is not yet registered with the SEC.
MATTEL PROFIT DIPS BUT SHARES GO UP
NEW YORK — Mattel Inc. said yesterday its second-quarter profit fell by nearly half as higher costs offset strong sales of toys related to summer movies like "Kung Fu Panda" and the latest Batman film and the benefit from the weaker dollar.
The results still beat Wall Street's expectations. That, combined with Mattel's legal victory in a case against the maker of Bratz dolls, sent the shares soaring nearly 12 percent. The company also said it may raise prices again this spring.
Mattel, which makes Barbie, Hot Wheels and Fisher-Price toys, said quarterly profit dropped 48 percent to $11.8 million, or 3 cents per share, from $22.8 million, or 6 cents per share, a year ago.
Revenue rose 11 percent to $1.11 billion, including a 15 percent rise in international sales that came mainly from the benefit of a weaker dollar. U.S. sales grew just 3 percent.
HONEYWELL'S EARNINGS UP 18%
WASHINGTON — Second quarter earnings rose 18 percent at Honeywell International Inc. and the diversified manufacturer raised its 2008 forecast yesterday as its global reach helped buffer the company from the deep woes faced by the U.S. economy.
Morristown, N.J.-based Honeywell earned $723 million, or 96 cents per share, beating Wall Street forecasts for the quarter ending June 30. It earned $611 million, or 78 cents per share, a year ago. Sales rose 13 percent to $9.67 billion from $8.54 billion a year ago.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting earnings of 94 cents per share on $9 billion in revenue.
WTO RULES AGAINST CHINA
GENEVA — The World Trade Organization made public its first official condemnation of Chinese commercial practices yesterday, releasing a February ruling that sided with the United States, the European Union and Canada in a dispute over car parts.
The verdict — findings of which were obtained by The Associated Press five months ago — found that China was breaking trade rules by taxing imports of auto parts at the same rate as foreign-made finished cars.
In the sweeping decision, the three-member WTO panel ruled against China on nearly every point of contention with the U.S., the 27-nation EU and Canada.
