Companies Postpone Earnings Reports in Light of Hurricane Sandy

   By Saabira Chaudhuri 
 

A number of U.S. companies disclosed plans to postpone their quarterly reports because of the pending arrival of Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast, a move that comes during one of the busiest weeks of the third-quarter earnings season.

Among the names delaying reports are financial data and news provider Thomson Reuters Corp. (TRI), pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and power-plant operator NRG Energy Inc. (NRG).

Thomson postponed its earnings to Friday, while Pfizer moved its announcement to Thursday. Both companies were slated to unveil results on Tuesday. Meanwhile, NRG moved its earnings announcement to Friday from Wednesday, while Entergy Corp. (ETR) rescheduled to Nov. 5 from Tuesday.

"With many of our shareholders, financial analysts, employees and others living in and around the storm's projected path, rescheduling our earnings call was an easy decision to make," Entergy Chief Executive J. Wayne Leonard said.

Among the smaller companies that are delaying releasing their earnings was Acorda Therapeutics Inc. (ACOR)--which moved its announcement to Wednesday from Tuesday. Scorpio Tankers Inc. (STNG), which transports petroleum products, moved its announcement from Monday to a yet to be determined date this week. Mortgage insurer Radian Group Inc. (RDN) moved its scheduled release to Thursday from Tuesday, while metalworking supplier MSC Industrial Direct Co. (MSM) pushed its release back one day to Wednesday.

U.S. stock and options markets are closed Monday as a result of Hurricane Sandy and are expected to remain closed Tuesday.

Among the companies that reported as planned Monday were Burger King Worldwide Inc. (BKW), Loews Corp. (L) and Weingarten Realty Investors (WRI).

Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at [e-mail]

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