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Strategies & Market Trends : Can you beat 50% per month? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Smiling Bob who wrote (15643)	7/25/2012 7:29:52 AM
From: Smiling Bob	Respond to of 19257

RadioShack swings to loss, suspends dividend By Lauren Pollock RadioShack Corp. (NYSE:RSH) swung to a surprise second-quarter loss on lower consumer electronics sales and higher costs. The electronics retailer also heeded calls to suspend its dividend. "Overall, our business performed below expectations during the second quarter," Chief Executive Jim Gooch said. "We were disappointed in our gross margin rate performance, as the initiatives we have under way have not yet generated enough momentum to improve the trend. However, we were pleased with the sales growth generated in the mobility category of our business." Gross margin narrowed to 37.8% from 45.9% on a shift toward lower margin smartphones and as input costs rose 16%. RadioShack's mobile device-focused strategy has delivered weaker bottom-line results in recent quarters due to fierce competition in the cellphone category and weak demand for other types of consumer electronics. The shift toward lower-margin smartphones and other mobile devices, as well as discounting, has also weighed on the company's results. On Tuesday, UBS joined the calls criticizing RadioShack's strategy, cutting its stock-investment rating to sell from neutral on challenging fundamental trends, key executive vacancies and other concerns. UBS also suggested tossing the dividend, noting the company is "not getting credit for this payment anyway," and capital would be better spent on stores. The suspension of the 12.5 cent quarterly dividend will save the company $50 million a year. RadioShack posted a loss of $21 million, or 21 cents a share, from a year-earlier profit of $24.9 million, or 24 cents a share. Net sales edged up 1.2% to $953.2 million as the company's mobility platform sales increased 3.3% in U.S. company-operated stores. Sales in the consumer electronics segment decreased 26.5%, while same-store sales were essentially flat, the company said. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters recently expected earnings of 3 cents a share on revenue of $970.4 million. Shares closed Tuesday at $3.65 and were unchanged in recent premarket trade. The stock is off 62% so far this year. Subscribe to WSJ: online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires Copyright © 2012 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy - UPDATED 10/18/2011. Intraday Data provided by SIX Telekurs and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Telekurs. Intraday data delayed per exchange requirements. Dow Jones Indexes (SM) from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real time last sale data provided by NASDAQ. More information on NASDAQ traded symbols and their current financial status. Intraday data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. Dow Jones IndexesSM from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. SEHK intraday data is provided by SIX Telekurs and is at least 60-minutes delayed. All quotes are in local exchange time.