For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – April 14, 2010 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Alcoa Inc. (AA), Telefonica (TEF), Deutsche Telekom (DT), Vodafone (VOD) and Royal KPN NV (KPN).
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Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:
Alcoa’s Losses Shrink
Alcoa Inc. (AA) recorded its fifth consecutive loss of $194 million, or 19 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2010. However, losses narrowed from a loss of $480 million or 59 cents in the first quarter of 2009 and a sequential loss of $295 million or 29 cents. Accounting for restructuring and special charges of $295 million or 29 cents per share, Alcoa earned 10 cents per share.
Restructuring charges included $135 million (prior guidance of $180 million), or 13 cents per share due to the closure of two smelters in Badin, North Carolina, and Frederick, Maryland. Alcoa also took charges for tax impacts totaling $112 million (prior guidance of $80 million), or 11 cents per share, primarily because of changes in federal health care laws.
Quarterly revenues jumped 20% to $4.9 billion on higher realized prices, offset partially by lower shipments in alumina and primary metals and higher energy costs. Realized prices for alumina were up 13%, while that of aluminum improved 8%.
Cash from operations in the quarter was $199 million and cash and cash equivalent reached $1.3 billion as of March 31, 2010. Debt-to-capital ratio of 38.1% at the end of the quarter reflected an improvement of 60 basis points from fourth quarter 2009 and a 250 basis point improvement from first quarter 2009.
Germany Auctions 4G Spectrum
Europe’s first 4G mobile broadband spectrum (radio airwave) auction officially kicked off in Mainz, Germany, on April 12, 2010. The country’s telecom regulator Bundesnetzagentur has reportedly commenced auctioning the 4G radio spectrum, which will be used by the incumbent carriers to roll out mobile broadband services based on the emerging Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standard.
This represents the first wireless broadband spectrum auction in Germany in nearly a decade. The previous auction, which was held in 2000, allocated spectrum licenses to six operators to roll out 3G wireless broadband services. The 4G auction sets a benchmark for the other leading economies in Europe that are expected to hold spectrum auctions in 2010-2011.
This time, Bundesnetzagentur has allowed four operators to bid in the 4G auction, namely, Telefonica (TEF), Deutsche Telekom (DT), Vodafone (VOD) and E-Plus, the German subsidiary of Netherlands-based carrier Royal KPN NV (KPN). No new entrants have been allowed to bid.
The regulator is auctioning spectrum in 41 frequency blocks across the 800 megahertz (MHz), 1.8 gigahertz (GHz), 2.0 GHz and 2.6 GHz frequency bands. Out of these, 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands are best suited for rolling out 4G LTE services. All four operators are vying to grab a chunk of spectrum in the 800 MHz band as it enables more cost-effective delivery of data traffic.
The minimum bid price has been set at €1.5 million (US$2 million) per 5 MHz frequency block compared to €25.57 million (US$35 million) set in the 3G auction. However, total available spectrum for sale is 360 MHz (in four different bands) vis-à-vis 145 MHz in 2000.
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