UPDATE 1-Libbey swings to Q2 profit, shares rise

(Reuters) - Sales for the latest quarter rose 31 percent to $207.1
million, beating one analysts' estimate of $203.8 million.




The Toledo, Ohio-based company's sales grew as it witnessed
a significant increase in its North American glass sales and
international sales.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

RadioShack posts profit but sales weaken

(Reuters) - Sales fell 15 percent to $934.8 million, short of analysts' estimates of $983.6 million. Sales at stores open at least a year, a key measure of retail performance, dropped 8.9 percent. RadioShack cited weaker wireless sales and the closure of 481 stores in 2006.




"The wireless business is actually doing very well in general for the wireless carriers" such as Cingular, Fitch's Co said. "RadioShack can't seem to attract the customers into the stores to sign up."


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Verizon May Say Today Earnings Rose as Fiber-Optic Network Pared Loss

(Bloomberg) -- Verizon Communications Inc.'s $22.9
billion gamble on a new fiber-optic network may have started to
pay off in the second quarter as new customers and reduced
expenses pared the project's losses.

Net income of the second-largest U.S. phone company
probably rose to $1.69 billion, or 58 cents a share, from $1.61
billion, or 55 cents, a year ago, according to the average of 13
analysts' estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Sales may have
increased 5.1 percent to $23 billion.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Tunisia Central Bank, Kingboard, Hong Long, Sri Lanka: Asia Bond Alert

(Bloomberg) -- PT Mobile-8 Telecom, an Indonesian
mobile-phone operator that counts Qualcomm Inc. as an investor,
and Hong Long Holdings Ltd., a Chinese developer, are among
borrowers seeking to sell at least $5.6 billion of bonds in Asia,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Governments and companies in Asia sold $43.8 billion of
debt denominated in dollars, euros and yen this year, up from
$38.2 billion a year earlier, Bloomberg data show. Sales of
Samurai bonds, yen debt sold by foreign entities in Japan, rose
to 1.4 trillion yen ($11.8 billion), from 741 billion yen in the
whole of 2006.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

China Yangtze Power Profit Jumps 72 Percent on Output, Sale of Bank Stake

(Bloomberg) -- China Yangtze Power Co., operator of
the world's biggest hydropower project, said first-half profit
jumped 72 percent after the company sold shares in a bank and as
electricity output rose.

Net income surged to 2.25 billion yuan ($298 million), or
0.268 yuan a share, from 1.31 billion yuan, or 0.16 yuan, a year
earlier, Yangtze Power said in a statement to Shanghai's stock
exchange today. Sales rose 12 percent to 3.4 billion yuan.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

UPDATE 1-UST reports higher quarterly profit

(Reuters) - Excluding restructuring and other charges, the wine and
tobacco company reported a profit of 90 cents per share. On
that basis, UST beat Wall Street estimates of 85 cents,
according to Reuters Estimates.




Sales for the quarter rose 3.9 percent to $491.3 million,
beating analysts' average estimate of $490.65 million.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Idex quarterly profit rises 19 percent

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, July 24 - Idex Corp. , which makes pumps and fire-suppression equipment, on Tuesday posted a 19 percent increase in quarterly profit as orders rose.



Net income in the second quarter rose to $41.6 million, or 51 cents a share, from $35 million, or 43 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales rose 16.2 percent to $344.5 million.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Anixter International quarterly profit rises

(Reuters) - Sales rose to $1.51 billion from $1.24 billion a year ago.




The company said the latest second-quarter results included
sales of $39.7 million from a series of acquisitions completed
over the past year.



Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Harley-Davidson net up but hints at production cut

(Reuters) - Sales rose 17.7 percent to $1.62 billion.




Analysts, on average, had expected the Milwaukee-based company to earn $1.13 a share on sales of $1.64 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Alfa Laval sees 2007 sales above 23 bln crowns

(Reuters) - Sales amounted to 19.8 billion crowns in 2006. The firm
reported turnover of 11.2 billion crowns for the first six
months of the year.




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Hershey profit falls on charges

(Reuters) - Excluding one-time charges, earnings were 35 cents a share, matching the average analyst estimate posted by Reuters Estimates.




Sales were flat at $1.05 billion, below the average analyst estimate of $1.07 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Harley-Davidson net rises on international sales

(Reuters) - Sales rose 17.7 percent to $1.62 billion.




Analysts, on average, had expected the Milwaukee-based company to earn $1.13 a share on sales of $1.64 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Retail Sales Stalled in June Amid Housing Recession: U.S. Economy Preview

(Bloomberg) -- Sales at U.S. retailers stalled in
June following the biggest gain in more than a year as the
housing recession led consumers to tighten their belts, a report
this week may show.

Retail sales were probably unchanged last month after a 1.4
percent gain in May, according to the median estimate in a
Bloomberg News survey ahead of a July 13 report. Rising fuel
prices boosted the cost of imports, caused the trade deficit to
swell and hurt consumer confidence, other reports may show.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Brazilian Corporate Note, Bond Sales Reach a Record in First Half of 2007

(Bloomberg) -- Sales of corporate debt in Brazil
rose 17 percent to a record in the first half as investors,
faced with declining interest rates, sought out riskier, higher-
yielding assets such as mortgage- and receivable-backed notes.

Sales of corporate bonds, debentures and asset-backed notes
rose to 21.72 billion reais ($11.38 billion) in the first six
months of the year -- the highest since at least 1997 -- from
18.5 billion reais in the year-ago period, according to data by
the nation's securities regulator. Last year, about 93 billion
reais were sold in corporate fixed-income securities, with about
two-thirds of those sales in the second half.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

U.S. New-Home Sales Decreased 1.6 Percent to a 915,000 Annual Pace in May

(Bloomberg) -- Purchases of new homes in the U.S.
dropped in May, signaling demand is still faltering in the second
year of the housing slowdown.

Sales fell 1.6 percent to an annual pace of 915,000 last
month from a revised 930,000 rate the prior month that was lower
than previously estimated, the Commerce Department said today in
Washington. The supply of unsold homes at the current sales pace
rose.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

South Korean Department Store Sales Fall for Second Month on Lending Clam

(Bloomberg) -- South Korea's department store sales
declined for a second month in May as a clampdown on the housing
market reduced home sales and sapped demand for home appliances
and furniture.

Sales at the nation's three biggest department store chains
dropped 0.1 percent from a year earlier after shedding 2.3
percent in April, the Commerce Ministry said today in Gwacheon,
South Korea.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Pound May Extend Drop Versus Dollar on Speculation of Lower Sales Growth

(Bloomberg) -- The pound may drop for a second day
versus the dollar on speculation a report showing retail sales
growth slowed last month will reinforce speculation the Bank of
England won't need to raise interest rates further.

Sales expansion in Europe's second largest economy probably
slowed to an annual 3.8 percent from 4.2 percent in April,
according to economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The U.K.
currency may also be hurt after an industry survey showed house
prices rose at the weakest pace in a year in May.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News