An interesting day for WMI... WMI reported earnings that were 2 cents light. and yet the stock is up more
than half a point today.
When a depressed stock can miss earnings and yet rally on a
pretty neutral mkt day, A longer term bottom is probably
at hand or near by.
WMI was listed by one contributor to the NYT's sunday special..stocks to Own for the Decade, back in Jan.
I am bullish and got reasonably long WMI about a week ago, feeling that the downside risk is evanescing away from WMI.
I had a bit from around 20 this spring, but it was a token position.
WMI is the largest company in it's area, and they really
had to work on accounting problems from a couple of mergers.
Price to sales of 1 and a mkt cap of only 8 billion.
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Monday March 27, 8:29 am Eastern Time
Waste Management reports loss after unusual costs
HOUSTON, March 27 (Reuters) - Waste Management Inc. (NYSE:WMI - news), the biggest U.S. trash hauler, said on Monday it suffered a fourth-quarter net loss of $114.7 million after charging $360 million in ``unusual costs' related to the company's recent series of financial and operational problems.
The loss of 19 cents per share compared to a profit of $63.5 million or 10 cents per share in the same period in 1998. Fourth-quarter revenue rose to $3.34 billion from $3.23 billion.
Houston-based Waste Management reported lower-than-expected net earnings before the unusual items, of $200 million, or 32 cents per share. Analysts had on average been expecting 34 cents per share, according to consensus forecasts from First Call/Thomson Financial.
The one-time costs include $100 million for accounting, legal and other professional service charges, including a special review of its accounts last year, the company said. A further $260 million in expenses includes losses on international assets that are being sold, increased bad debt and other adjustments aimed at stabilizing its accounting and management information systems.
The expenses reflect ``painstaking efforts to clean up our accounting records,' said Waste Management Chairman and Chief Executive Maurice Myers in a statement. Waste Management also said it expects $3 billion in proceeds from asset sales, mostly in the second and third quarters of this year. Of this, $2 billion must be used to pay down debt because of bank agreeemnts, it said. |
