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Centene Corporation 05-20 04:51 GMT  
(Report with Analyst's Data Sheet) 
Centene (CNC) said earlier this month that it expects to receive $2.8 billion in proceeds from selling two pharmacy businesses in separate...
Pharma Exit by Kathleen Shanley, CFA
Celulosa Arauco y Constitucion SA 05-20 03:31 GMT  
(Report with Analyst's Data Sheet) 
Celulosa Arauco y Constitucion S.A. (Arauco, CELARA) reported good results for 1Q22 as the company managed to implement higher...
Momentum Remains Good by Alexandre Dray
Ovintiv 05-20 03:25 GMT  
(Report with Analyst's Data Sheet) 
Ovintiv (OVV) continues to make steady progress increasing adjusted EBITDA while reducing net debt and improving its credit metrics.
Improving Credit Metrics by Evan Mann, CFA
Parkland Fuel Corporation 05-19 03:45 GMT  
(Report with Analyst's Data Sheet) 
Parkland Corporation (PKIUF) completed seventeen growth acquisitions totaling $1.8 billion since the third quarter of 2020, including the...
Slower Acquisition Pace by Evan Mann, CFA
Vodafone Group Plc 05-19 03:29 GMT  
(Report with Analyst's Data Sheet) 
Emirates Telecommunications Group, which was formerly known as Etisalat, but now is referred to as e&, just bought a nearly 10% stake in Vodafone. ...
More Activism Or Less? by Dave Novosel, CFA
CODELCO 05-19 03:21 GMT  
(Report with Analyst's Data Sheet) 
The price of copper has fallen back on fears that the slowing global economy will lead to a lower demand for the metal. Corporacion nacional del cobre de Chile...
Lower Growth Ahead by Cedric Rimaud, CFA
Motorola Solutions, Inc. 05-17 14:31 GMT
(Comment)
First quarter revenue at Motorola Solutions rose 6.7%, including a gain of 9% in...
Earnings by Dave Novosel, CFA
First quarter revenue at Motorola Solutions rose 6.7%, including a gain of 9% in the Products and Systems Integration segment and a 4% increase in Software and Services. The former was driven by growth in land mobile radio and video security, while the latter benefited from growth in video security and command center software. Total software revenue was up 17% in Q1. North America was the best performing geographic region. Anecdotally, MSI has exited Russia, which generated minimal revenue. Backlog rose 19% to a Q1 record. Management confirmed guidance for full year revenue to increase by 7%, including a rise of 4% to 5% in Q2. Operating margins plummeted more than 400 basis points due to higher direct material costs for semiconductors, increased freight expenses, and expenses associated with recent acquisitions. However, management indicated that margins should improve over the remainder of the year due to price hikes, targeted cost reductions, and a more favorable mix. Free cash flow was negative in Q1 because of a significant rise in inventory in an effort to meet the robust demand in video and LMR. Nevertheless, MSI used cash on hand to fund the acquisitions of Ava Security ($387 million) and TETRA Ireland ($120 million), as well as to fund share repurchases of nearly $500 million. Cash at the end of Q1 was almost $900 million. Based on our outlook for EBITDA to improve modestly in 2022, we expect leverage at year-end to decline to 2.6x.
Deutsche Telekom AG 05-17 12:29 GMT
(Comment)
Deutsche Telekom posted a 6.2% increase in revenue for the first quarter, its best...
Earnings by Dave Novosel, CFA
Deutsche Telekom posted a 6.2% increase in revenue for the first quarter, its best organic growth in a few years. Not surprisingly, the T-Mobile US segment was the driver, delivering a gain of 9.5% on excellent subscriber growth. Admittedly, foreign exchange had a huge impact as organic growth was only 1.5% in this unit. Revenue in Germany rose 1%, a pace similar to recent periods, while revenue in Europe declined 1%. EBITDA margins fell 360 basis points, reflecting weaker margins in the U.S. stemming from the unwinding of the handset lease business, and higher corporate expenses. Margins rose in both Germany and Europe, continuing the recent trend. DTEGY cut debt by more than EUR1 billion in Q1, dropping leverage to 3.0x. The strong results prompted management to raise guidance for 2022 EBITDA and free cash flow.
Philip Morris International 05-11 18:19 GMT
(Comment)
As we discussed in yesterday's report, PM today announced an all-cash bid for...
Acquisition by Carol Levenson, CFA
As we discussed in yesterday's report, PM today announced an all-cash bid for Swedish Match. The enterprise value and premium are a bit higher than we had assumed, at $17.5 billion and 39%, respectively. This does not change the pro forma leverage materially, and we now calculate it at 3.3x. The company is promulgating a forecast figure for net leverage at closing (fourth quarter of 2022) of net debt/EBITDA of 3x. As a reminder, at the end of the first quarter net leverage was 1.7x. PM intends to use bank financing and bonds, with an initial credit line commitment of $17 billion. PM intends to deleverage over "the next few years," although it was not specific as to how much or by when, which is annoying. But as a sign of its seriousness about this, it is suspending its share repurchase program until it has made progress in reducing leverage. The expected deal rationale was as predicted, incredibly melding a joint vision of a "world without cigarettes." The acquisition is pricey at 17x 2023 consensus EBITDA, but thanks to the accounting miracle of adjusting away intangible amortization (which is where the high price paid will show up) henceforth, it will be accretive to adjusted E.P.S. in the low to mid single digits. The companies are not expecting material cost synergies, but revenue synergies could be meaningful given the complementary product lines and geographies. Management was asked about potentially functioning with a lowered commercial paper rating, which could happen if the rating agencies decide to downgrade its single 'A' ratings one notch. Its response implied to us that it had not yet heard from the rating agencies. We think it can make a good case for not being downgraded, perhaps just an outlook change, based upon the modest improvement in business risk, the suspension of share repurchases, the strong free cash flow of the combined companies, and a track record of financial conservatism. We are keeping our credit score at "stable," and reiterate our "outperform."
Fox Corporation 05-11 14:37 GMT
(Comment)
Fox reported a 7.5% increase in revenue for the fiscal third quarter that ended March 31st,...
Earnings by Dave Novosel, CFA
Fox reported a 7.5% increase in revenue for the fiscal third quarter that ended March 31st, which was not as robust as the 8.7% gain in Q2 or the 12.1% gain in Q1. Growth was balanced between TV (+7.4%) and Cable Networks (+7.6%). TV benefited from higher advertising, mostly at Tubi, and higher affiliate revenue stemming from fee increases at third party affiliates and higher average rates at the company's owned and operated stations. Cable Networks improvement was mainly due to a 20% rise in advertising. EBITDA margins dropped considerably in both segments. TV was buffeted by increased digital investments at Tubi, higher programming rights amortization and production costs at Fox Sports and a write-down of scripted programming at Fox Entertainment. Cable Networks margins were hurt by the timing of sports programming rights amortization at the national sports networks and increased digital investment at Fox News Media. Fox has generated roughly $465 million of free cash flow thus far in fiscal 2022. The company used that and cash on hand to slash debt by $750 million in Q3. Consequently, leverage is now down to 2.4x. The last time leverage was this low was in fiscal 2008.
Host Hotels 05-10 
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