METRO Q1 Adj. EBITDA Declines; LFL Sales Down 11.3% – Quick Facts

METRO (MTTWF.PK) reported first quarter profit from continuing operations to shareholders of 99 million euros compared to 121 million million euros, prior year. Earnings per share from continuing operations was 0.27 euros compared to 0.33 euros. Adjusted EBITDA was 376 million euros, down 28.6%. Adjusted for currency effects, the decline in adjusted EBITDA was 23%.

First quarter reported sales decreased by 16.0% to 6.3 billion euros. Sales in local currency decreased by 11.2%. Like-for-like sales declined by 11.3%.

For fiscal 2020/21, METRO confirmed sales and EBITDA outlook.

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. Q4 adjusted earnings Beat Estimates

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (AB) released earnings for its fourth quarter that rose from the same period last year.

The company’s earnings totaled $93.22 million, or $0.97 per share. This compares with $80.04 million, or $0.84 per share, in last year’s fourth quarter.

Excluding items, AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. reported adjusted earnings of $92.94 million or $0.97 per share for the period.

Analysts had expected the company to earn $0.81 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 7.6% to $879.80 million from $817.46 million last year.

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. earnings at a glance:

-Earnings (Q4): $92.94 Mln. vs. $81.28 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q4): $0.97 vs. $0.85 last year.
-Analysts Estimate: $0.81
-Revenue (Q4): $879.80 Mln vs. $817.46 Mln last year.

Insider Retail: McDonald's reckoning — Amazon's Jassy faces challenges — Battle of online grocery CEOs

Hello and welcome to another edition of Insider Retail, where we highlight our top deep dives of the week — from what insiders are saying about a fast food giant’s reckoning to the biggest challenges the new Amazon CEO will face. So without further ado…

McDonald’s pledged support for Black Lives Matter with donations and diversity-centric hires — but insiders say the fast food chain’s new guard needs to do more.

READ NOW.

Nordstrom has a plan to offer shoppers a lot more product choices… so it’s leaning into dropshipping, a controversial tactic popular with e-commerce entrepreneurs.

READ NOW.

Andy Jassy will succeed Jeff Bezos as Amazon’s next CEO. Here are the three biggest challenges he’ll take on.

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Online grocery marketplaces are trying to become one-stop shops. The CEOs of Thrive Market, Hungryroot and Good Eggs lay out how they’re competing in the $1 trillion grocery industry.

READ NOW.

Oatly raised eyebrows ahead of its reported IPO with that Super Bowl ad. (You know the one.) But here are eight other food companies that could go public.

READ NOW.

Plus…

• How Yum Brands saved Pizza Hut.
• Target’s athleisure brand generated $1 billion in one year.
• Ulta Beauty grew e-commerce sales with a virtual try-on tool.
• Why this sneaker vet left a dream job at Nike.

Sensex jumps 222 points to fresh closing high; Reliance rallies over 4%

In similar movement, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 66.80 points or 0.44% to its all-time high of 15,173.30.

Equity benchmark Sensex surged 222 points to end at its new closing record on Thursday, propelled by gains in index major Reliance Industries amid positive global cues.

After trading on a choppy note, the 30-share BSE index settled 222.13 points or 0.43% higher at 51,531.52.

In similar movement, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 66.80 points or 0.44% to its all-time high of 15,173.30.

Reliance Industries was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 4%, followed by Sun Pharma, PowerGrid, Bajaj Finance, Nestle India and HCL Tech.

On the other hand, Titan, L&T, ONGC, HDFC Bank and ITC were among the laggards.

Domestic equities traded in a range bound manner, while benchmark indices managed to record modest gains towards the end of the session mainly supported by sharp up-move in Reliance Industries, said Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities.

"Market looks to be fatigued at current levels after seeing sharp rally post the announcement of union budget," he noted.

Most sectoral indices traded sideways and a pullback was seen in PSU Banks. Notably, volatility index softened sharply.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended with gains.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also largely trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.67% lower at $61.06 per barrel.

Oil Prices Fall Amid Profit Taking

Oil prices fell on Thursday after enjoying the longest winning streak in two years on the back of output cuts, vaccine rollouts and U.S. stimulus hopes.

Benchmark Brent crude dropped 0.7 percent to $61.02 per barrel, after having risen during the past nine sessions, its longest sustained period of gains since January 2019. U.S. crude futures were down 0.6 percent at $58.34.

OPEC+ would keep its output cuts policy unchanged at a March meeting and Saudi Arabia will continue making its extra voluntary cuts of a million barrels per day, Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar said in a press conference on Wednesday.

However, speculation is rife that the recent rally in the oil market could tempt producers like Saudi Arabia to reduce output by less.

Saudi Arabia is unilaterally reducing supply in February and March, supplementing cuts agreed by other members of the OPEC+.

On the data front, the near-term outlook for the euro area looks weaker than expected last autumn, as the pandemic tightened its grip on the region, the European Commission said in its interim Winter forecast, released today.

The currency bloc is forecast to grow 3.8 percent this year, instead of 4.2 percent projected previously. Meanwhile, the outlook for 2022 was raised to 3.8 percent from 3 percent.