J.C. Penney’s income soars, but investors not impressed
J.C. Penney Co. finished a week of retail earnings reports that showed big improvements in sales and profits. A string of muted outlooks, however, fueled worries on Wall Street that the consumer comeback might not pick up steam.
Penney reported Friday that its first-quarter net income more than doubled. The retailer also raised its full-year outlook, but even that didn’t impress investors, sending shares down 63 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $27.54.
Penney’s results mirrored a theme played out all week. Nordstrom Inc., Kohl’s Corp. and Macy’s Inc. all saw shares fall for the week after posting big profit gains.
Penney posted net income of $60 million, or 25 cents per share, for the quarter ended May 1. That compares with $25 million, or 11 cents per share, in the same period last year.
Waddell & Reed trades cited in half-hour market plunge
Shares of money manager Waddell & Reed Inc. fell Friday as it was identified as the stock trader that sold off a large number of index futures contracts during last Thursday’s market collapse.
The company’s stock fell $1.81, or 5 percent, to $32.25.
Waddell’s sale of 75,000 e-mini futures contracts in a 20-minute span on May 6 drew the attention of regulators, Thomson Reuters said.
E-minis are tied to the value of the S&P 500 index. They’re traded electronically on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Waddell & Reed said it was one of more than 250 companies that traded e-mini securities as the stock market plunged. The Dow Jones industrials lost nearly 1,000 points in less than half an hour.
EMI raises additional cash, averts Citigroup foreclosure
British recording company EMI Group Ltd. said Friday it has raised enough cash to fend off foreclosure by its main lender, Citigroup.
EMI, home of the Beatles, said that financier Guy Hands’ private equity firm, Terra Firma, intends to invest additional money in EMI so the company can stay in compliance with the terms of its debt.
Two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that the amount raised was about 105 million pounds ($153 million), the sum EMI needed to stave off default through next March. The people were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
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