Applied Materials Inc. on Tuesday reported a small first-quarter net loss, as the world’s largest maker of chipmaking equipment cut costs to cope with the worst downturn on record in the semiconductor industry.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company reported a net loss of $45 million, or 6 cents a share, compared with a profit of $157 million, or 19 cents a share, a year ago.
Excluding a charge for job cuts and other items, the company said it earned $15 million, or 2 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by research firm Thomson Financial/First Call expected a break-even quarter.
New orders in the quarter were $1.12 billion, down 54 percent from $2.43 billion in the same quarter last year. Net sales were $1 billion, down 58 percent from $2.36 billion a year ago.
The report came out after the close of trading.
– MetLife Inc., the nation’s largest life insurer, reported a fourth-quarter loss of $296 million, citing costs stemming from job cuts and class-action lawsuits alleging race discrimination. The loss amounted to 41 cents a share. A year ago, the New York-based company had a profit of $591 million, or 74 cents a share.
MetLife said it incurred pretax charges of $250 million related to lawsuits alleging that its Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. charged African-American customers higher premiums for less insurance coverage than it charged whites.
Excluding those and other items, MetLife said it earned $439 million, or 59 cents a share, beating Wall Street’s estimates by 1 cent a share.
For the full year, MetLife earned $473 million, or 62 cents a share, compared with $953 million, or $1.21 a share, in 2000.
Shares of MetLife gained 80 cents, to $30.37, on the New York Stock Exchange.
– Lower oil prices slashed fourth-quarter profits at BP PLC by 46 percent, but the world’s third-biggest publicly traded oil company was still Britain’s most profitable firm in 2001.
London-based BP said it had pro forma earnings in the fourth quarter of $2.2 billion, or $9.85 a share, down from $4.1 billion, or $18.25 a share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected a profit of $2.1 billion. The company’s profit for all of 2001 fell to $13.18 billion, or $58.73 a share, from $14.2 billion, or $65.63 a share, in 2000.
Shares of BP picked up 19 cents, to $46.70, on the NYSE.
– Blockbuster Inc., the largest video rental chain and a unit of entertainment giant Viacom Inc., said fourth-quarter earnings rose 67 percent as the growing appeal of DVDs boosted margins and revenue.
Dallas-based Blockbuster, which said DVD rentals shot up 160 percent for the year, reported that earnings, excluding charges, rose to $63.2 million, or 35 cents a share, from $37.8 million, or 22 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts had forecast earnings of 28 cents a share.
Including charges, the company posted a net loss of $4.5 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $24.6 million, or 14 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue at Blockbuster, which has nearly 7,900 stores worldwide, increased 1.3 percent, to $1.36 billion.
Blockbuster stock rose $1.70, to $21.01, on the NYSE.
