Alcoa was down over 3% after releasing weak quarterly results, after the close on Wednesday. The US aluminum giant has announced for the first fiscal quarter an adjusted loss heavier than expected, as well as income below expectations. The quarterly loss was $199 million and $1.07 per security, compared to $195 million and $1.04 a share a year ago. Excluding items, the deficit still represents $43 million and 23 cents per share, against a positive EPS of $1.01 a year earlier. Revenues fell to $2.7 billion from $3.1 billion a year earlier. The consensus was 13 cents of adjusted deficit per share for $2.8 billion of billings.
Travelers announced the first quarter profits above expectations, on lower losses for disasters. Net premiums increased 3% to $7.06 billion. Quarterly net income jumped 19% to $796 million, $2.99 per security. Adjusted earnings per share was $2.83, compared with a consensus of $2.74. The group, which is part of the Dow Jones index, finally posted quarterly revenues up 5% to $7.7 billion.
Honeywell was up after releasing its first fiscal quarter earnings per share of $1.92, against a consensus of $1.83. The group’s revenues have corrected 15% year-on-year to $8.9 billion, mainly due to the impact of divestments, while the consensus was close to $8.6 billion. The group explains that its ‘adjusted’ sales have in fact progressed on all activities remaining within the scope, with a particular increase of 10% in the aeronautical segment, which is the strongest contributor to revenues.
For the full year 2019, the group is now considering revenues ranging from $36.5 to $37.2 billion, compared to a previous range of between $36 and $36.9 billion. Earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $7.90 to $8.15, compared with an earlier range of $7.80 to $8.10. The group has a capital cover of $14 billion that it can deploy in 2019, its preference apparently for mergers and acquisitions.
