A boost in sales worldwide helped Burger King post a 2 percent increase in its fiscal first-quarter profit on Friday, but higher food costs and other expenses still took a bite out of its earnings. The nation’s No. 2 hamburger chain reported increases in commodity, remodeling and acquisition start-up costs, leading the chain to miss Wall Street’s profit estimates by a penny per share. Higher commodity costs have been a problem for virtually all restaurant chains, with the price of beef, chicken, cheese and cooking oil all rising.
Chevron announces record earnings
Chevron Corp. on Friday announced record earnings of $7.9 billion in the third quarter, capping a week of historic profits for some of the world’s major oil companies. Net income at the San Ramon, Calif.-based oil giant more than doubled compared to the same period a year ago to $3.78 a share, fueled by soaring crude prices that reached an all-time high of $145.29 in July. The nation’s No. 2 oil company would have reaped even larger profits if not for Hurricanes Ike and Gustav. Storm-related shutdowns at Chevron’s operation in the Gulf of Mexico helped push down oil and gas production to 2.443 million barrels a day in the third quarter, a decline of 3.7 percent from the period ended in June.
Currency losses hurt Tata Motors
India’s largest automaker, Tata Motors Ltd., said Friday that its second-quarter profit fell 34.1 percent from a year earlier because of slowing vehicle sales and foreign currency losses. Tata, which acquired the Jaguar and Land Rover brands in June, said it earned 3.47 billion rupees ($70.1 million) in the July-September quarter. Revenues rose 6.1 percent to 70.78 billion rupees ($1.43 billion). The rupee has slid precipitously against the U.S. dollar, damaging earnings at many of India’s blue-chip companies. Before taxes and a 2.85 billion rupee ($57.6 million) foreign exchange loss, Tata’s profit rose 8.9 percent to 6.43 billion rupees ($129.8 million), the company said.
American Express to cut work force
One day after announcing plans to slash 10 percent of its global work force, American Express Co. painted a bleak outlook on Friday, saying it does not expect to meet its financial targets until economic conditions improve. In its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, American Express said it expects write-offs in its credit card portfolio to continue to increase in the fourth quarter and into next year. The New York-based credit card issuer has reported four straight quarters of profit declines as an increasing number of consumers struggle to pay off debt and reduce spending in the face of a worsening economic downturn.
From Herald news services
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