A Rough First Quarter for Corporate America
Many companies report losses
It's been a long winter for some of the country's most important corporations. Merrill Lynch today reported a loss of $2.1 billion in the first quarter and said it will cut 4,000 jobs. An eye-popping $6.5 billion in write-downs led Merrill to that position.
The first quarter also saw losses from major companies in industries across the board: Marriott says its earnings per share fell 25 percent. Newspapers continued to do poorly; the New York Times Co. lost $355,000 (down from a $23.9 million profit a year earlier) and saw advertising revenue decline by 11.1 percent in March alone. Profits fell 18 percent at pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
One company that managed to beat expectations and turn a small profit was Southwest Airlines, whose revenues jumped 15.1 percent to $2.5 billion. But with fuel costs rising, Southwest says it will have to scale back plans to expand. President Bush is hoping his economic stimulus package will begin to spur the economy this summer. For many, it can't come soon enough.
advertisement
Add your thoughts
Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our comment guidelines.