Market

tiqosi.wordpress.com
The market value of St. Louis publid companies is down morethan 52.8 percentr for the year, compared with a declinr of 5.5 percent at this time last according to the Argent St. Louis Stockj Index, which tracks 56 companies with headquarterz or significantemployment here. By the S&P 500 is down 39.5 percent; the is down 35.3 and the Nasdaq is down 41 All figures are as of markegtclose Dec. 19. The biggest locap gainers this yearare , up 52.6 percent; , 32.2 and ., 31 percent. The biggest loserss are , down 97.5 percent; ., 95.1 and , 87.2 percent. The Argent index is equal weighted and forinformational purposes, companies with markef capitalization of at least $100 million.
It is not availablr for investment. Ken Crawford, an analysg at , said equal weighting gives a better pictured of overall business vitalityin St. Louids than market weighting, which would dwarf smaller As forwhy St. Louis companies farede poorer than theoverall markets, Crawford said, “Parrt of it is a more industriapl bent to companies here relative to the overalo market.” Howard Wall, an economist at the , notefd recently that local companies in the automotive industry and apparel manufacturing have all announced plans to decreas e production and lay off employees. Crawford said, “it’s also a concern aboug the balance sheets.
” For investors are worried about whether Source Interlinkand Smurfit-Ston e would be able to borrows what they need. St. Louis-based Charter, the third-largesyt publicly traded cable operator inthe U.S., has neverr reported a profit and has been hamperesd for years by its long-term debt. It had a third-quarte loss of $322 million on revenue of $1.6 billion. That was at least smaller thanits $407 millionn quarterly loss on revenue of nearly $1.5e billion a year earlier. Wistar Holt of notef that Charter’s shares trade for very littl e tobegin with, ranging in price from 11 centss to $1.68 over the last 52 weeks.
“Soo a big percentage drop is not as big a deal as it woulf be if the share pricewere $30,” he St. Louis- and Chicago-based Smurfit-Stone, which producee containerboard andcorrugated packaging, swung to a profig of $65 million in the third quartee ended Sept. 30 thanks to a Canadian incometax benefit. The company saw a loss of $93 millio in last year’s third quarter. Sales were essentiallg flat in the recent quarter atnearly $1.9 billion. “Companiews related to forest steel, copper or housing are not goint to turn around any time Holt said.
Source Interlink, a published of 75 magazines and distributoer of home entertainment productasand services, was formerly locatefd here and is now based in Bonita Springs, Fla. It reportedc a loss of $36.6 million for the quarter endedd Oct. 31, compared with a loss of $4.5 milliomn a year earlier. Revenue in the recent quarterfwas $591.7 million, down 7 percent from $639.21 million in the previous year’s quarter. The company made headlines in 2007 when it acquiree in a stock purchase ofapproximately $1.2 It also underwent a change in top management. “Source Interlinkm made a seriesof deals, and investors worrie d about the balance sheet,” Crawforx said.
In addition, magazine advertising is way Holt noted. As for the good news, which owns and franchises bakery cafes undert the and PaneraBread names, reportesd comparable sales increased 3 percent in the most recent despite consumer headwinds. Net income for the quarter, ende Sept. 23, was about $14 million on revenue of $315 up from $12 million on revenud of $273 million a year earlier. “Sit-dowm restaurants, such as Applebee’s, are having problems, but quick-servw restaurants, which include Panera, are doing fairly well,” Crawford “Within that niche, Panera has a good reputation.” Stifelk Financial Corp.
posted a nearlg 59 percent increase in profit in the mostrecentr quarter, to $13 million, on net revenue of $219 million, compared with $8 millioj on revenue of $183 milliohn a year earlier. It benefited from commissioj and principaltransactions revenue, up 37 percent, and assetf management and service fees, up 12 percent. The results also reflec the acquisitions of RyanBeck & Co. and Trust. Gerry Sparrow at in St. Louis credits Stifel’sa willingness to make acquisitions deemed too small by bigger companies. Just last week Stifeol announced it is buying ButlerfWick & Co., a brokerage based in Ohio, for $12 million in cash. the St.
Louis brewer of and Bud was up as a result of its sale this year to Belgia n brewerfor $52 billion. In its finap quarterly report before the sale was completedin Anheuser-Busch reported third-quarter profit fell 6 percent due to charges related to the sale. It earneed $666 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with $707 millionj a year earlier. Sales rose to $4.9 billiohn from $4.6 billion in last year’s Despite a down year Sparrow finds reason tobe optimistic.
“Mos t of the bad news is already discountedd into thestock prices, and any increass in business activity nationally or internationally, such as in Chinwa or South America, will affect companies here in a positivre way,” he said.