Investment News: Money Morning

Oil Hits Another New High; Barrick Gold Corp. Strikes Profit; Molson Coors Enjoys Refreshing First Quarter; Exchange Group Profits on Volatile Markets; Legg Mason Loss; Sara Lee Hit By High Ingredient Costs; New Islamic Market Venture; Idear Shares Soar

• Oil futures climbed to another new record over $122 a barrel yesterday (Tuesday), as supply concerns permeated the market. Light, sweet crude for June delivery jumped to $122.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before making a slight retreat, the Associated Press reported.

• Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX), the world’s largest gold-mining company, said yesterday (Tuesday) its net income for the three months ended March 31 was $514 million (58 cents per share) compared with a loss of $159 million (18 cents per share) a year ago. Revenue rose 44% to nearly $2 billion.

• Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) said yesterday (Tuesday) that strong results in the U.S. and Canada lifted first quarter gross revenue by 10% to $1.82 billion, up from $1.65 billion a year ago. Excluding excise taxes, net revenue increased to $1.36 billion from $1.23 billion, according to the Associated Press.

• NYSE Euronext (NYX) announced a 238% increase over the prior year’s results for the first quarter based on record trading levels both in the United States and Europe. In a statement, the firm reported net income of $230 million, or $0.87 per diluted share, for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2008, a $162 million increase as compared to net income of $68 million, or $0.43 per diluted share, for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2007.

• Baltimore-based Legg Mason Inc. (LM) yesterday (Tuesday) reported a $255.5 million loss for its fiscal fourth quarter. The investment services firm stated the loss included a one-time charge of $291 million pledged as support to prop up struggling money market funds hard hit by the subprime crisis, MarketWatch reported.

• Despite an 82% increase in revenue, Sara Lee Corp. (SLE) was unable to meet analyst expectations due to the high price of commodities. The food manufacturer also lowered its guidance for fiscal year 2008 due to the high costs of wheat, fuel, and coffee, The Associated Press reported.  Fueled by a double-digit gain in international sales, revenue increased to $3.24 billion from $2.94 billion for the same period in the year prior.

• Dubai World LLC, the emirate’s state-controlled investment group, merged Dubai Bank and Dubai Islamic Investment Group to create a $10 billion foreign-acquisition venture. The venture, Dubai Banking Group, will target investments and acquisitions "in a wide range of sectors" in Islamic markets around the world, Bloomberg reported.  

• U.S. yellow pages directories publisher, Idear Inc. (IAR), stock soared 45% yesterday (Tuesday) on better than expected quarterly results. Shares gained $1.52 to close at $4.85 on an 8% increase in profit. The firm earned $111 million, or 76 cents per share, compared with $103 million, or 70 cents per share, for the same period in the prior year, The Dallas Business Journal reported.

May 7th, 2008

Why Gold Will Surpass $2,500

Few investors realize that inflation is the least of the factors driving the bull market in gold. Other factors, like Venezuela's crackdown on gold exports, are likely to push prices higher. Find out how to play each of the "7 Key Drivers" in our Money Morning Publisher's Series report... Go here to get it for free.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 12:01 am and is filed under Global Business Roundup, Global Roundup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Due to the amount of comments we receive Money Morning will not be able to respond to all questions. If you have not already registered to leave a comment, once doing so you will receive Money Morning's Daily Email. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.