Earnings Reports for Feb. 1

ByABC News
February 6, 2001, 8:55 AM

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Colgate-Palmolive Q4 Net Profit Climbs 12 Percent

Colgate-Palmolive, maker oftoothpaste, soap, pet food and a host of other householdproducts, said today net income per share rose 12 percentin the fourth quarter, topping Wall Street estimates by apenny.

Net income was 46 cents a share for the quarter, comparedwith 41 cents a year ago, the maker of Colgate toothpaste,Hill's Science Diet pet foods and Ajax dishwashing liquidsaid.

Analysts on average had forecast earnings of 45 cents ashare, according to market research firm First Call/ThomsonFinancial.

Global sales rose 8 percent in the quarter to $2.4 billion,excluding currency effects.

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Reebok Turns A Profit, Sales Essentially Flat

Reebok International, theworld's No. 2 shoemaker, said today it turned a profit inthe fourth quarter, reversing a year-ago loss, even thoughsales were essentially flat.

Canton, Mass.-based Reebok, whose brands include Rockportand Ralph Lauren, said it earned $6.2 million, or 11 cents ashare, during the fourth quarter. That compares with a net lossof $14.7, or 26 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter, whichincluded a $15.1 million charge for settling a lawsuit andrestructuring.

Analysts, on average, were looking for Reebok to earn 7cents a share, according to research firm First Call/ThomsonFinancial.

Reebok's fourth-quarter sales remained about even at $622.5million, compared with $622.8 million in the year-ago quarter.BACK TO TOP

Sales of Gatorade Push Up Quaker Oats

Cereal and Gatorade sports drinkmaker Quaker Oats said today that fourth-quarteroperating income rose 23 percent as strong sales of Gatoradehelped boost results.

The Chicago-based company, which agreed to be bought by No. 2U.S. soft drink maker PepsiCo in December, said ithad operating income of $102.0 million in the quarter versus $82.6million one year ago.

Fourth-quarter earnings per share before unusual items were 37cents compared to 33 cents one year ago. The results matched therecent poll of analysts by First Call/Thomson Financial, whichtracks earnings estimates.

Net sales rose to $995.9 million compared to $949.1 millionone year ago.BACK TO TOP

Verizon Meets Estimates

Verizon Communications, the No.1 U.S. local telephone company, reported todayfourth-quarter profits in line with Wall Street forecasts asdata and wireless sales surged and its long-distance subscriberbase grew.

The company also repeated its outlook for 2001 earnings.

"Our solid operating performance in 2000 confirms both thevalidity of our business model and our ability to execute onit," said Verizon Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Charles Lee.

Verizon, formed through last year's merger of Bell Atlanticand GTE , said profits rose to $1.9 billion, or 77cents a share, compared with $1.7 billion, or 63 cents a share,a year ago.

The results were in line with company and Wall Streetforecasts per share, according to research firm FirstCall/Thomson Financial.

The company said its fourth-quarter results were70 cents per diluted share, on net income of $1.9 billion, an11.1 percent rise from 63 cents, or $1.7 billion, in the sameperiod the year before.

Verizon said fourth-quarter revenues rose to $16.9 billionfrom $15.8 billion for the year-ago period. The reportedresults for all periods incorporate the net after-tax effect ofgains, charges and other adjustments.

Shares of Verizon have gained about 21 percent in the pastthree months. They have outperformed the Standard & Poors500-stock index by about 34 percent.

Total adjusted U.S. telecom revenues grew 3.3 percent forthe fourth quarter, to $10.9 billion.

Verizon said it expected its 2001 earnings to be in therange of $3.13 to $3.17 a share. The company made a similarforecast in December.

Verizon said it added 190,000 digital subscriber lines inthe fourth, 46 percent more than in the third quarter. Thelines allow high-speed Internet access through regulartelephone wires.

The 540,000 lines in service at the end of the yearrepresent an increase of more than 500 percent over the numberin service at the end of 1999.

The company said it was "well positioned in 2001 to furthertransform our growth profile and move into our target ranges of8-10 percent revenue growth and $3.13-$3.17 earnings pershare."

The company made a similar earnings forecast in December.

Verizon's long-distance unit ended the year with 4.9million customers nationwide, 44 percent more than the yearbefore. Verizon is the fourth-biggest U.S. provider of

long-distance services.

Verizon Wireless added 1.2 million net new customers duringthe fourth quarter, 5.9 percent more net additions than infourth-quarter 1999. The total number of customers grew 15.6percent year-over-year to 27.5 million.

Wireless revenues for the quarter grew to $4.1 billion, up16.7 percent from fourth-quarter 1999.

Verizon said it added 190,000 digital subscriber lines inthe fourth quarter, 46 percent more than in the third quarter.The lines allow high-speed Internet access through regulartelephone wires.

The 540,000 lines in service at the end of the yearrepresent a rise of more than 500 percent over the number inservice at the end of 1999, it said.BACK TO TOP