ParfumGigi@aol.com
29 janvier, 2008 10:20
Corning Reports 11% Quarterly Profit Growth; Shares Gain
SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Shares of Corning Inc. rose Monday, gaining after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that jumped 11%.
Corning (GLW) posted net income of $717 million, or 45 cents a share, up from $646 million, or 41 cents, earned in the final three months of 2006. Revenue was $1.58 billion, up from $1.37 billion.
On an adjusted basis, income for the latest quarter would have been 40 cents a share.
Analysts, on average, had expected the Corning, N.Y.-based company to generate earnings of 39 cents a share on revenue of $1.55 billion, according to estimates compiled by Thomson Financial.
The company also said it expects first-quarter earnings, before special items, of 41 cents to 43 cents a share and pegged revenue in a range of $1.59 billion to $1.62 billion.
Corning's shares traded about 3% higher at late morning.
Corning is a leading maker of glass used in LCD computer screens and thin high-definition television sets. The company also makes optical fiber and cable for the telecommunications market and emmission control technologies.
The company said quarterly sales of display technologies rose to $774 million, up 10% sequentially and up 25% from the year-earlier period. Corning said the business got a boost from strong worldwide demand for LCD televisions and notebook computers.
However, the company's telecommunications business came in with sales of $430 million, down 9% from the 2007 third quarter due to "normal season slowdowns," Corning said.
In a statement, Chief Financial Officer James Flaws said the company has not seen "any significant impact from a potential slowing of the U.S. economy other the slowdown in the trucking industry, which will negatively impact our diesel product sales."
The executive also said: "We expect panel makers to maintain high utilization rates throughout the first quarter, which will drive continued strong glass demand."
