Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports April Sales Results

Costco Wholesale Corporation reported net sales of $5.83 billion for the month of April, the four weeks ended May 2, 2010, an increase of 13 percent from $5.18 billion in the same four-week period last year. This year's four-week period for April included 28 days of sales compared to 27 last year; Easter fell in the reporting month of April last year. This calendar shift positively impacted this year's April total and comparable sales by approximately two to three percent.

For the thirty-five weeks ended May 2, 2010, the Company reported net sales of $51.04 billion, an increase of 9 percent from $46.66 billion during the similar period last year. Inflation in gasoline prices and strengthening foreign currencies had a positive impact on comparable sales.

Additional discussion of these sales results is available in a pre-recorded telephone message. You can access the recording by dialing 1-800-642-1687 (conference ID 44186110). This message will be available today through 5:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday, May 7, 2010.

Costco currently operates 567 warehouses, including 414 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 77 in Canada, 21 in the United Kingdom, seven in Korea, six in Taiwan, nine in Japan, one in Australia and 32 in Mexico. The Company also operates Costco Online, an electronic commerce web site, at www.costco.com and at www.costco.ca in Canada. The Company plans to open up to six additional new warehouses prior to the end of its fiscal year on August 29, 2010.

Certain statements contained in this document and the pre-recorded telephone message-constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For these purposes, forward-looking statements are statements that address activities, events, conditions or developments that the Company expects or anticipates may occur in the future. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, domestic and international economic conditions, including exchange rates, the effects of competition and regulation, uncertainties in the financial markets, consumer and small business spending patterns and debt levels, conditions affecting the acquisition, development, ownership or use of real estate, actions of vendors, rising costs associated with employees (including health care costs), geopolitical conditions and other risks identified from time to time in the Company's public statements and reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Gannet Co Inc Announces Quarterly Dividend

Gannet co., Inc. has declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.04 per share. The dividend will be payable on July 1, 2010. It will be paid to shareholders of record as of June 4, 2010.

The company’s shareholders have re-elected Craig Dubow, Howard Elias, Arthur Harper, John Jeffry Louis, Marjorie Magner, Scott McCune, Duncan McFarland, Donna Shalala, Neal Shapiro and Karen Hastie Williams to its Board of Directors. The election was held during the company’s annual meeting at Gannett’s headquarters. The directors will serve one year terms that will end at the company’s next annual meeting in 2011.

Gannett Co., Inc. (Gannett) is an international media and marketing solutions company. The Company publishes 83 daily United States newspapers, including USA TODAY, the daily print newspaper, and more than 650 magazines and other non-dailies, including USA WEEKEND. The Company also operates 23 TV stations in 19 the United States markets and Captivate, which operates video screens in office elevators in urban markets. Gannett's subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom’s regional newspaper company with 17 daily paid-for titles, more than 200 weekly newspapers, magazines and trade publications, and a network of Websites. The Company operates in three segments: publishing, digital and broadcasting. In July 2009, Newsquest sold one of its commercial printing businesses, Southernprint Limited. In February 2009, the Company purchased a minority interest in Homefinder, a national online marketplace connecting homebuyers, sellers and real estate professionals.

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GlaxoSmithKline receives UK approval for Combodart

GlaxoSmithKline has been granted a licence approval for Combodart, a new treatment for moderate-to-severe benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

The therapy, which is a combination of dutasteride and tamsulosin hydrochloride, has been approved on the basis of results from a four-year clinical study, which showed its efficacy in reducing the risk of urinary retention and BPH-related surgery.

It is the first treatment to be approved in the UK which combines the positive effects of two separate recommended monotherapies.

Dr Jon Rees, a GP from Bristol with a special interest in urology, said the effectiveness of the treatment makes it more likely that patients will stick to medication regimes and avoid disease progression.

He added: "By delivering all the advantages of two treatments in one single capsule, the arrival of Combodart represents a new approach to BPH management in the UK."

Last week, GlaxoSmithKline published its financial report for the first quarter of 2010, reporting a year-on-year turnover increase of 13 per cent.

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United Parcel Service Inc rolls out hybrid electric vehicles in Stafford Read more: UPS rolls out hybrid electric vehicles in Stafford

The new vehicles are the latest in the expansion of the Atlanta-based company’s alternative fuels vehicle fleet expansion, and part of a rollout of 200 new HEVs deployed in seven other U.S. cities: Austin; Chicago, Long Island, Louisville, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

The hybrid power system combines a conventional diesel engine with a battery pack, and use regenerative braking, where energy from the friction of applying the brakes is captured and returned to the battery as electricity.

The HEVs will cut down on fuel consumption by about 35 percent, the company said, equaling about 100 regular UPS delivery vehicles.

United Parcel Inc also uses compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, propane, electricity and hydraulic hybrid technology in its alternative fleet.

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Comcast rolls out mobile broadband to 5 cities

Comcast Corp. on Wednesday said it has rolled out mobile broadband service in Portland, Ore., Philadelphia, Seattle, Houston and Boston.

Called High-Speed 2go, the service in the five cities will operate on Sprint Nextel Corp.'s nationwide 3G network.

Comcast is offering a "Fast Pack" $54.99-a-month promotion for one year that bundles mobile and wired Internet access. The price will go up to $69.99 a month after 12 months.

Existing wired Internet customers can add mobile 3G broadband for $40 or more per month for both services.

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Wabco posts 1Q profit of $30M, reversing loss

Wabco Holdings Inc., which supplies components for commercial vehicle manufacturers, posted first-quarter net income Wednesday of $30.7 million, citing higher truck and bus production in emerging markets.

The company also lifted its full-year forecast.

The Brussels-based company said earnings for the three months ended March 31 came to 47 cents per share. That compares with a loss of $36.4 million, or 57 cents per share, in the same period last year.

Excluding items, the company earned 51 cents per share. Results on that basis breezed past Wall Street estimates. According to Thomson Reuters, analysts expected 25 cents per share, on average.

Revenue rose to $491.1 million from $333.9 million. Analysts expected $427.8 million.

"The commercial vehicle industry is recovering," said Wabco Chairman and CEO Jacques Esculier.

The company said Asia and South America showed "significant growth" during the quarter, adding that 75 percent of the world's truck and bus production took place in China, India and Brazil.

Wabco raised its full-year earnings forecast to $1.27 to $1.67 per share, excluding items, citing a recovery in European truck and bus demand. Analysts expect $1.32 per share.

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NRG Energy's Wind farm set to move forward

Federal waters off Delaware are officially open to bidders seeking to lease parts of the Outer Continental Shelf. That means NRG Energy’s Bluewater Wind wind offshore farm is a big step closer to completion.

NRG Energy spokesman David Gaier said, “We feel that we are very far along in the game as far as the Mid-Atlantic Wind Park is concerned.” He said the company already has in hand a power-purchase agreement with Delmarva Power for 200 megawatts of energy, an agreement to deliver wind power to the regional electric grid and a lease to install a meteorological tower for studies.

Gaier said the company plans to have turbines generating power by 2014.

Gaier said NRG is reviewing the application from the Minerals Management Service (MMS), which is part of the interior department. “This action by the Department of the Interior formally opens the permitting process for us,” said Gaier. This is the first-ever offshore wind permit process, said Gaier, so the company can’t estimate how long it will take. But, he said, the company expects to meet its deadlines.

Gov. Jack Markell said, “Delawareans are eager to seize the economic and environmental benefits of offshore wind and we are proud to be the first state in which MMS will issue an Offshore Wind Request for Interest.”

Gaier said the company would also have to complete environmental-impact studies, including the effects of the planned park on migratory birds.

“We believe, based on other studies and from long-term experience in Europe, there will be no negative impact on birds. In fact, one of the first organizations to support us in Delaware was Delaware Audubon,” said Gaier.

NRG Energy purchased Bluewater Wind from Australian-based Babcock and Brown in November 2009 after Babcock and Brown had financial problems and went into voluntary administration, selling off its assets. In 2008, Bluewater Wind and Delmarva Power signed a power-purchase agreement after more than a year of contentious negotiation. MMS said if there is no competitive interest, the agency says it may proceed with a noncompetitive lease process. Both options will include public participation and environmental review, the agency said.

The Department of the Interior announced last week the first step in allowing a wind farm project off Rehoboth Beach. Interior secretary Ken Salazar said federal and Delaware officials have been working closely on the project. The Minerals Management Service governs continental shelf leases.

The Request for Interest includes federal waters between Delaware Bay shipping routes. The point closest to land is 7.5 miles due east of Rehoboth Beach.

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For Investors, Diabetes Is a Growth Industry: GlaxoSmithKline

The numbers are sobering. Approximately 24 million Americans today have diabetes, and another 12 million are expected to be diagnosed by 2020, according to the American Diabetes Association. One survey puts the toll of lost productivity and caring for diabetes patients at $218 billion annually in the U.S. alone.Yet for investors, the fast-growing diabetes industry suggests something else: opportunity.

Each week seems to bring another development. Earlier this month, Swiss pharma giant Roche Holding AG announced its acquisition of a unit working on a new type of insulin patch. That development came on the heels of AstraZeneca's rollout of the new diabetes drug, Onglyza, in India — a country that is projected to have the most diabetes cases globally by the end of 2010, according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). In January, Novo-Nordisk got approval for its new once-a-week diabetes drug, Victoza, one of a new generation of similar medications.

Of course, not every new diabetes product is a success. The FDA may be considering halting trials of GlaxoSmithKline’s diabetes treatment Avandia due to possible side effects like increased risk of heart attack. (In a statement, GlaxoSmithKline says it “welcomes additional scientific information that could help guide decisions around clinical trials and ultimately patient safety.”) Inhaled insulin drugs have also been something of a bust, with Eli Lilly, Pfizer and Novo-Nordisk abandoning efforts to develop those products.

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Conoco Net Income More Than Doubles on Oil Prices

ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company, said first-quarter profit more than doubled after higher crude prices increased the value of its production.

Net income climbed to $2.1 billion, or $1.40 a share, from $800 million, or 54 cents, a year earlier, Houston-based ConocoPhillips said today in a statement. Excluding costs related to pulling out of two Middle East projects, profit was $1.47 a share, 10 cents higher than the average of 15 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue surged 46 percent.

ConocoPhillips said in October it planned to divest $10 billion of assets as it intensifies its focus on exploring for oil and natural gas. The company reached nearly half its goal when it agreed this month to sell a Canadian oil-sands stake for $4.65 billion.

Improving economic conditions have helped crude prices rise this year. Oil futures traded in New York were 82 percent higher, on average, in the first quarter than a year earlier.

“I think they’re executing about as well as can be expected given the environment they have,” said James Halloran, a consultant at Financial America Securities in Cleveland.

ConocoPhillips rose 55 cents to $59.10 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has nine buy ratings from analysts, eight holds and three sells. Before today, ConocoPhillips had climbed 15 percent this year in New York trading.

Production Falls

ConocoPhillips said production of oil and gas in the first quarter fell about 5 percent from a year earlier to 1.83 million barrels of oil equivalent a day. The company cited normal field declines in the U.K. and North America, the effects of production-sharing agreements and unplanned downtime in North America related to weather.

The company said its earnings from producing oil and gas more than doubled in the first quarter to $1.83 billion. The company’s stake in Russia’s OAO Lukoil had a first-quarter profit of $387 million, compared with $8 million a year earlier.

ConocoPhillips said in March that it wants to sell half its 20 percent stake in Lukoil by the end of 2011. A 10 percent stake was valued at about $5 billion last month. The Lukoil sale is in addition to a plan to sell $10 billion in assets within the same period. This month, ConocoPhillips also said it’s pulling out of the Yanbu refinery venture with Saudi Aramco and the Shah gas project with Abu Dhabi. Costs related to those two projects totaled $110 million in the first quarter.

More Focused

“I think they’re finally realizing that they don’t have to be big to be appreciated by the market,” said Brian Youngberg, an analyst at Edward Jones in St. Louis who has a “buy” rating on ConocoPhillips shares and owns none. “If they focus on returns and operate their assets well, they will be rewarded in terms of improved share price.”

ConocoPhillips said it is increasing drilling in the Eagle Ford shale formation, with four horizontal wells completed and three more being drilled. The company also said three wells in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale began producing last month.

The company is seeking to reduce its refining and marketing business, whose profit margins have been squeezed by reduced demand for transportation fuels. ConocoPhillips has said it eventually wants that segment to comprise 15 percent of its portfolio, compared with 28 percent last year.

Clayton Reasor, vice president of corporate affairs at ConocoPhillips, said in March that the company may enter into some refinery joint ventures or sell interests. ConocoPhillips doesn’t expect to sell a refinery in the next couple of years, he said.

Refining Loss

ConocoPhillips reported a loss of $4 million from refining and marketing in the first quarter, compared with earnings of $205 million a year earlier. The company said its U.S. refining utilization rate was 88 percent in the first quarter, while the international rate was 48 percent in part because of maintenance work.

Profit from DCP Midstream, a pipeline and gas-processing venture with Spectra Energy Corp., fell 37 percent to $77 million. ConocoPhillips’s chemicals business, held in a joint venture with Chevron Corp., earned $110 million, compared with a profit of $23 million a year earlier.

Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron are the biggest U.S. oil companies. Exxon Mobil said today that first-quarter profit rose 38 percent. Chevron is scheduled to report earnings tomorrow.

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Berkshire rebounds from 2009 $1.5 billion 1Q loss to post a preliminary $3.6 billion profit

Berkshire Hathaway has rebounded from last year’s first-quarter loss and earned $3.6 billion as the economic recovery began and Berkshire absorbed Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad.

CEO Warren Buffett shared preliminary first-quarter results with shareholders Saturday at Berkshire’s annual meeting. The full report will be released Friday.

Last year’s $1.5 billion loss included a $241 million loss on the sale of investments and a $1.9 billion charge from writing down a ConocoPhillips investment.

The addition of Burlington Northern more than doubled Berkshire’s regulated businesses unit income to $555 million. The unit also includes utilities.

Buffett says Berkshire’s results show the economy is improving because manufacturing and retail income grew 85 percent to $477 million.

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