Nokia Loss Narrows (WSJ)
Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) -8.88% posted a narrowed first-quarter loss due to cost cuts and an improved performance from its networks business, but rising competition at the low end of the cellphone market put pressure on shipments of the company’s basic devices and led to a sharp decline in revenue. The Finnish company on Thursday reported healthy demand for its closely watched Lumia smartphone lineup, which operates on Microsoft Corp.’s MSFT -0.71% Windows software, representing an important step for Chief Executive Stephen Elop. Nokia shipped 5.6 million Lumias in the quarter.
Morgan Stanley reports lower earnings, revenue, but beats Wall Street’s expectations (WashingtonPost)
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)’s profit and revenue dipped in the first quarter. Results beat Wall Street’s expectations, but the stock still dipped in pre-market trading. Quarterly revenue from the investment bank slipped, while revenue from wealth management rose. Earnings totaled $1.2 billion, down about 12 percent from a year earlier. Per share, those earnings amounted to 61 cents, beating the 57 cents expected by analysts polled by FactSet. Revenue totaled $8.5 billion. That was down 5 percent from a year earlier, but it beat analysts’ expectations of $8.3 billion.
Morgan Stanley Beats Expectations But Bond Unit Weighs on Earnings (WSJ)
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) saw its core results weaken from last year, but exceed Wall Street expectations. Revenue from bond trading slid. The investment bank swung to a first-quarter profit as it benefited from a comparison with a year-earlier period that was bogged down by a heavy accounting charge. Morgan Stanley reported a first-quarter profit of $984 million, compared with a year-earlier loss of $94 million. The per-share profit, which reflects the payment of preferred dividends, was 49 cents compared with a loss of six cents a year earlier. Stripping out the impact of debt-valuation changes, the per-share profit was 61 cents…
Morgan Stanley Core Results Slip (WSJ)
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) -3.73%saw core earnings weaken from a year ago in its first quarter. For the quarter, the bank reported a profit of $984 million, or 49 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $94 million, or 6 cents a share, a year earlier. But excluding accounting charges tied to the value of its debt, Morgan Stanley’s earnings from continuing operations fell to $1.2 billion from $1.3 billion a year earlier and revenue slid to $8.5 billion from $8.9 billion. The latest period included a $317 million impact tied to changes in the value of Morgan Stanley’s debt, while the year-earlier period included a $2 billion impact. Banks have to take an accounting charge when the price of their own bonds rises.
Morgan Stanley Trims Investment Bank’s Compensation Pool 14% (Bloomberg)
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), owner of the world’s biggest brokerage, set aside $1.89 billion to pay employees at its investment-banking and trading division in the first quarter, 14 percent less than a year earlier. Compensation at the institutional-securities unit, which includes salaries, bonuses and the cost of previous deferred awards, equaled 43 percent of adjusted revenue, little changed from a year earlier, according to figures posted today on the New York-based firm’s website. The drop was “in part driven by lower headcount,” the company said in a statement. While the firm doesn’t report how many people are employed within the division, its total number of employees fell 6.6 percent from a year earlier.
Morgan Stanley posts $958 million profit as wealth management grows (Reuters)
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reported a stronger-than-expected first-quarter profit of $958 million, compared with a year-earlier loss of $119 million, as its wealth management business grew. The sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets said on Thursday it earned 49 cents per share on a consolidated basis in the first three months of the year, compared with a loss of 6 cents per share a year earlier. Excluding a charge related to debt value adjustment (DVA), or changes in the value of the company’s debt, Morgan Stanley earned $1.2 billion, or 61 cents per share.
LDK Solar Fourth Quarter Profits Misses/Beats Estimates (BusinessWeek)
LDK Solar Co., Ltd (NYSE:LDK), the Chinese manufacturer that must repay $240 million in financing in June, said its cash on hand fell to the lowest in more than three years as its shipments dropped. The second-biggest maker of wafers used in solar panels said it had $98.3 million in cash at the end of the fourth quarter, the least since the third quarter of 2009. It reported its seventh consecutive quarterly loss and shipments in the period were at the lowest since at least 2011.
