Philippine inflation eases to 4.0% in July

MANILA, Aug 5 (Reuters) – Philippine annual inflation in July slowed to 4.0%, the lowest in seven months, driven mainly by easing price pressures in the transport index, government data on Thursday showed.

The headline figure came in near the low end of the central bank’s projected range of 3.9%-4.7% for the month, and slightly above the 3.9% median forecast in a Reuters’ poll. It marked the first time this year that inflation was within the 2021 official target band of 2%-4%.

The AES Corporation Q2 adjusted earnings Inline With Estimates

Below are the earnings highlights for The AES Corporation (AES):

-Earnings: $28 million in Q2 vs. -$83 million in the same period last year.
-EPS: $0.04 in Q2 vs. -$0.12 in the same period last year.
-Excluding items, The AES Corporation reported adjusted earnings of $303 million or $0.31 per share for the period.
-Analysts projected $0.31 per share
-Revenue: $2.70 billion in Q2 vs. $2.22 billion in the same period last year.

-Guidance:
Full year EPS guidance: $1.50 to $1.58

Kulicke And Soffa Industries Q3 Profit Climbs

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Inc. (KLIC) reported that its third-quarter net income climbed to $113.77 million or $1.79 per share, from $11.15 million or $0.18 per share in the prior year.

Non-GAAP net income was $118.8 million or $1.87 per share.

Net revenue grew to $424.32 million, from $150.45 million in the prior year.

The company currently expects net revenue in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2021 ending October 2, 2021 to be about $465 million +/- $20 million, and expects non-GAAP earnings per share to be about $2.00 +/- 10%.

Adtran Q2 Results Top View

Adtran Inc., (ADTN) reported that its net income for the second quarter of 2021 climbed to $5.09 million or $0.10 per share from $752 thousand or $0.02 per share in the previous year.

Non-GAAP net income for the quarter was $8.1 million or $0.16 per share, compared to $0.04 per share in the prior year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.12 per share for the second-quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

Total revenues grew to $143.23 million from $128.72 million in the previous year. Analysts expected revenue of $141.82 million for the quarter.

The company also announced that its board declared a cash dividend for the second quarter of 2021. The quarterly cash dividend of $0.09 per common share is to be paid to the company’s stockholders of record as of the close of business on August 19, 2021. The payment date will be September 2, 2021.

Rent-A-Center Reports Better Q2

Texas-based rental service company Rent-A-Center, Inc (RCII) saw their net income rise in the second quarter. Earnings as well as revenue beat analyst estimates.

The net income for the company was $61.30 million or $0.90 earnings per share compared to $38.49 million or $0.70 earnings per share in the last quarter. Excluding special items, the earnings were $110.57 million or $1.63 per share, up from $44.12 million or $0.80 per share last year. Five analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated the earnings to be $1.35 per share.

The revenue for the company also went up to $1.19 billion, from $683.74 million last year primarily due to a 232% rise of revenue in the Acima segment. The segment raised $635.30 million compared to $191.24 million last year. Four analysts estimated the revenue to be $1.14 billion.

Rent-A-Center has also raised its full year guidance to revenues in the range of $4.55 to $4.67 billion with earnings of $5.90 to $6.40 per year. Analysts forecast revenue of $4.56 billion with $5.66 earnings per share.

Mitch Fadel, Chief Executive Officer said, “Today’s consumers are increasingly seeking shopping options that are flexible, convenient, and offer low financial risk. Rent-A Center has the capabilities to meet these needs through its Acima virtual LTO platform and its highly trusted and convenient Rent-A-Center omni-channel solution.”

The shares are trading at $58.72 in the after-hours market, up $1.80 or 3.16% from their previous close. The market closed at $56.92 in the regular market, down $2.20 or 3.72%.

Swisscom H1 Profit Climbs, Raises FY21 EBITDA View, Backs Revenue Forecast; Plans Dividend

Swiss telecommunication services firm Swisscom AG (SWZCF.PK,SCMWY.PK) reported Thursday that its first-half net income climbed 42.1 percent to 1.05 billion Swiss francs from last year’s 736 million francs.

Consolidated operating income before depreciation and amortisation or EBITDA was up on the previous year by 4.9 percent at 2.32 billion francs.

Group revenue rose 2.6 percent to 5.58 billion francs from 5.44 billion francs a year ago. Adjusted revenues grew 2 percent. In the Swiss core business, revenue increased slightly by 0.5 percent to 4.10 billion francs.

As at the end of June 2021, Swisscom had connected over 4.6 million or 86 percent of homes and businesses in Switzerland to its ultra-fast broadband service.

Looking ahead, the company raised its fiscal 2021 EBITDA outlook by about 100 million francs to between 4.4 billion francs and 4.5 billion francs.

Swisscom continues to expect net revenue of around 11.3 billion francs.

If business develops as planned, Swisscom will propose to the 2022 Annual General Meeting that the dividend for the 2021 financial year should remain unchanged at 22 francs per share.

Biden nominates Mark Brzezinski to be ambassador to Poland

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President Joe Biden tapped former Obama administration diplomat Mark Brzezinski to be ambassador to Poland, the White House said Wednesday.

Brzezinski has previously served as the first Executive Director of the White House’s Arctic Executive Steering Committee and as the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden between 2011-2015. He later founded Brzezinski Strategies LLC and was Managing Director at Makena Capital Management, focusing his attention on “the growing demand for environmentally and socially responsible investment portfolio.”

Brzezinski is the brother of MSNBC Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski and son of the late Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was a Polish-American diplomat and national security adviser to Jimmy Carter.

In addition to Brzezinski’s nomination, the White House also announced nominations for several foreign policy and national security roles, including ambassador nominations to Togo, Benin and Malawi.

Elizabeth Anne Noseworthy Fitzsimmons was tapped to be ambassador to Togo; Wesley Shukan was nominated to be ambassador to Benin and David John Young was nominated as ambassador to Malawi.