The Denver Post Don Knox Column
Apr. 4 (The Denver Post/KRTBN)--LOTS OF COLORADO COMPANIES' PROFITS
LOOKING UP:
It's that time of year when investors fret about the corporate profit
picture. Once again in Colorado, all eyes are on the corporate
lack-of-profit picture.
The reasons are many: We have many cable companies, many oil and
mining companies, and -- recently -- many Internet companies. In short,
we have many companies that may not have profits for years to come.
Happily, it's not universal. And a quick review of recent profit
forecasts from Bloomberg Financial Markets is fairly shocking:
Thirty-nine publicly traded Colorado companies are expected to see
higher profits in the first quarter vs. 30 expected to report lower
profits. (Eleven are seen unchanged.)
Who are these diamonds?
We wondered, too.
One is Frontier Airlines, which somehow is thriving at pricey Denver
International Airport in the shadow of the much-larger Chicago-based
United Airlines. Profits in the first quarter for Frontier (ticker:
FRNT) are pegged at 44 cents a share, up 291 percent.
The stock's up big, too.
Wonderful.
Colorado's other home-grown airline, Atlas Air (ticker: CGO), has no
operations at DIA and flies cargo, not passengers. But its forecasted
profits have been steady and strong: They'll jump 78 percent a share in
the first quarter, if skies remain friendly.
Colorado software developers and system integrators are doing
fabulously.
In order of performance: Tava Technologies (ticker: TAVA), per-share
quarterly profit estimates up 750 percent; Rogue Wave Software (ticker:
RWAV), up 350 percent; Spatial Technology (ticker: STY), up 233
percent; and New Era of Networks (ticker: NEON), up 122 percent.
Not all tech profits are viewed equally.
Integration consultant Ciber Inc. (ticker: CBR) has forecasted
third-quarter '99 profits seen rising 36 percent -- dramatically slower
than in the recent past. It shows in the stock, down nearly $12 since
February to $17.56.
Of course, a 36 percent rise in quarterly profits would be a godsend
for stalwarts like brewer Adolph Coors Co. (ticker: RKY),
computer-storage device maker Storage Technology (ticker: STK) and
envelope giant Mail-Well (ticker: MWL). As it is, their profits are
expected to rise 11 percent, 11 percent and 23 percent, respectively.
Almost no one's complaining.
A few of our expected profitmakers are turning corners, of sorts.
TeleTech Holdings (ticker: TTEC), a big player in customer-service
outsourcing, is forecast to earn 8.1 cents a share, up from 7 cents and
reversing a bit of a downward slide last year. (It never came close to
being unprofitable.) And Hauser Inc. (ticker: HAUS) is expected to see
a 7-cent-a-share profit in its fourth quarter, 158 percent better than
a year ago.
Some local manufacturers also are expected to thrive this quarter,
especially those concentrating in high-tech niches. One example is
circuit-board maker DII Group (ticker: DIIG), up 121 percent. Another
is software packager StarTek (ticker: SRT), up 18 percent.
Plenty of other firms are seen profiting, too, but space prevents a
fuller accounting. Only kindness, however, keeps us from detailing the
losers -- though probably, you can guess them.
That's right.
They were the usual suspects.
Don Knox's column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. His e-mail is
dknox@denverpost.com.
By Don Knox
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