Northwest China's Gansu lowers coronavirus emergency response level

BEIJING (Reuters) – Northwest China’s Gansu province has lowered its coronavirus emergency response measures from level I to level III, its local health commission said on Friday, making it the first region in the country to do so.

Gansu has reported an accumulated total of 91 cases and two deaths. In the seven-day period ending on Thursday, there was only one new case.

China has a four-tier response system for pubic health emergencies that determines what measures it will implement, with level I the most serious.

Italian national tests positive for Coronavirus in Italy: Lombardy region

MILAN (Reuters) – An Italian national has tested positive for the new coronavirus, a statement of the Lombardy region said early on Friday morning.

The 38-year old man has been admitted to a hospital in the Northern town of Codogno and further medical tests are still underway, the region said.

It would be the fourth case confirmed in Italy after two Chinese tourists and another Italian tested positive.

BOJ Kuroda says not considering review of monetary policy for now

TOKYO, Feb 21 (Reuters) – Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Friday that he was not considering to conduct a comprehensive review of monetary policy at the moment.

Kuroda, speaking to parliament, also said it was not appropriate for the BOJ to set a range around its inflation rate target. (Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

Stock Alert: Community Health Systems Inc. (CYH) Shares Soar 39.71%

Shares of Community Health Systems Inc. (CYH) soared 39.71% on Feb. 20, and ended Thursday’s trading session at $6.72. The stock has been trading between $1.79 and $7.27 in the past one year. Trading volume surged to 18.34 million versus an average volume of 2.41 million shares.

The company, on Feb. 19, reported Q4 net operating revenues of $3.286 billion, and ajusted earnings of $0.40 per share, well above the Wall Street analysts’ estimate of $3.18 billion in revenues and $0.46 loss per share.

Wayne Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of Community Health, said, “We concluded 2019 with a strong finish to the year. Our successful divestiture program, along with strategic growth initiatives in our core portfolio of markets, has driven better results, including improved same-store volume and net revenue growth in 2019…”

Looking ahead, the company expects to deliver incremental growth in 2020, driven by a combination of continued same-store net revenue performance and execution across its strategic margin improvement programs.

For fiscal 2020, the company projects net operating revenues to be $12.4 billion – $12.8 billion, net result to be a loss of $1.30 – loss $0.60 per share, same-store adjusted admissions growth of 1.5% – 2.5%, and adjusted EBITDA to be $1.65 billion – $1.8 billion.

Flash eurozone manufacturing PMI climbs to 12-month high in February

The IHS Markit flash eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to a 12-month high of 49.1 in February from 47.9 in January, while the services PMI reached a 2-month high of 52.8 from 52.5. Economists polled by FactSet expected a 47.5 reading for manufacturing and a 52.2 reading for services. Any reading below 50 indicates worsening conditions. The euro EURUSD, +0.2967% was stronger on the day, at $1.0819 vs. $1.0785 on Thursday.

Exasol Plans To List Shares In Q1 – Quick Facts

Exasol AG said it plans to list its shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the first quarter of 2020. The planned IPO consists of a new share issue by the company of approximately 50 million euros, a placement of shares by certain minority shareholders and a customary over-allotment option.

Exasol AG said the IPO proceeds will be used primarily to enhance sales force as well as distribution and marketing power in the DACH region, the UK and the US, and to further invest in research and development initiatives.

Pearson 2019 pretax profit halved

Pearson PLC said Friday that pretax profit for last year more than halved as revenue declined and the company booked reduced gains on disposals and restructuring charges.

Pretax profit for 2019 was 232 million pounds ($299.0 million) compared with GBP498 million a year earlier, the London-based education company PSON, -4.28%  said. Net profit fell to GBP264 million last year from GBP590 million in 2018.

Adjusted operating profit–one of Pearson’s preferred earnings metrics–rose 6.4% to GBP581 million, the company said. Analysts expected an adjusted operating profit of GBP580 million, according to a consensus compiled by Vuma and based on estimates by 11 analysts.

Revenue fell to GBP3.87 billion from GBP4.13 billion a year before, Pearson said. Analysts expected revenue at GBP3.86 billion, according to a Vuma consensus.

On an underlying basis, revenue was flat as guided by the company, due to a 12% drop in its key U.S. higher-education courseware segment.

Pearson said adjusted operating profit for 2020 is expected to be between GBP410 million and GBP490 million, excluding its 25% stake in Penguin Random House which it agreed to sell to Bertelsmann SE last year.

The board raised its final dividend to 13.4 pence a share, from 13.0 pence a share a year before.

Pearson FY19 Underlying Adj. Operating Profit Up 6%; Underlying Revenue Flat

Pearson plc (PSO,PSON.L) reported profit before tax of 232 million pounds for the year ended 31 December 2019 compared to 498 million pounds, last year. Earnings per share was 34.0 pence compared to 75.5 pence. Adjusted operating profit increased 6% to 581 million pounds. Adjusted earnings per share was 57.7 pence compared to 70.2 pence, reflecting an effective tax rate charge of 16.5% in 2019 compared to a credit of 5.2% in 2018.

Fiscal 2019 sales were 3.87 billion pounds compared to 4.13 billion pounds, prior year. Sales decreased 6% on a headline basis. On an underlying basis, sales were flat in 2019.

For fiscal 2020, the Group projects adjusted operating profit of between 410 million pounds to 490 million pounds.

The Board proposed a final dividend of 13.5 pence, an increase of 4%, which results in an overall dividend of 19.5 pence. This will be payable on 7th May 2020.