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UPDATE: Morningstar analysts have been staying on top of the latest corporate news and earnings announcements from BSkyB, Barclays, BG Group and more

Alanna Petroff 1 November, 2012 | 4:09PM
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Find out about the latest corporate earnings results from our Morningstar analysts:

British Sky Broadcasting (BSY)
BSkyB shares shot up by 7% on Thursday after the pay-television broadcaster posted quarterly results that showed subscribers were adding additional services, which helped drive revenue up by 4%. Average revenue per user is now up at £550 per year, explained Morningstar analyst Allan Nichols.

To read Nichols' full analysis, Premium subscribers can find his report here
Not a Premium member? Sign up for a free trial here.

Barclays (BARC)
Investors bid shares in Barclays down by 5% on Wednesday after the bank released less-than-stellar results. "Statutory results for the third quarter were dismal--the bank suffered a pretax loss of £106 million, dragging earnings attributable to shareholders into the red for the year to date. The bank also warned that it is subject to two new investigations in the US," said analyst Erin Davis. "However, management-provided adjusted results, which exclude extraordinary items, show that the bank's operating figures are improving." After parsing through the numbers further, Davis decided to leave her fair value estimate on the bank unchanged.

To read Davis' full analysis, Premium subscribers can find her report here

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
"GlaxoSmithKline reported soft third-quarter results that fell slightly short of our and consensus expectations," said analyst Damien Conover. However, looking to the year ahead, Conover is rather optimistic. "We believe Glaxo's underappreciated pipeline will gain visibility when several new products likely enter the market in 2013 and 2014."

To read Conover's full analysis, Premium subscribers can find his report here

The well-respected Henderson fund manager, Job Curtis, recently said GlaxoSmithKline was one of his favourite dividend-paying companies. Find out why Curtis likes this pharmaceutical company by watching "Fund Managers' Favourites: Top Dividend Picks".

BG Group (BG.)
Shares in BG Group plunged by 14% on Wednesday after the oil and gas company announced that it expected lower production growth for this year and next year. “[BG] now expects 2012 production growth of about 3%, which is about half of what we previously expected,” said Morningstar analyst Allen Good. “More important, BG expects 2013 production to be flat, well below the double-digit growth anticipated by us and the market. As a result, we are placing the shares under review until we incorporate the new guidance into our model … Our confidence in BG's ability to forecast its growth ... is diminished at this point.” 

To read Good's full analysis, Premium subscribers can find his report here

BP (BP.)
"BP reported decent third-quarter results Tuesday morning. Although these results were in line with our overall projections, BP's segments did perform a bit differently than expected," said analyst Stephen Simko. "Most notable was BP's downstream segment, which posted a quarterly profit of $3 billion, almost three times the previous quarter."

To read Simko's full analysis, Premium subscribers can find his report here

Standard Chartered (STAN)
"Overall, we remain impressed by Standard Chartered's performance. We expect to maintain or slightly increase our fair value as we raise our near-term estimates," said analyst Erin Davis.

To read Davis' full analysis, Premium subscribers can find her report here

Imperial Tobacco (IMT)

"Despite falling volumes, Imperial Tobacco Group's solid pricing power and focus on its key strategic brands enabled the firm to grow both revenue and earnings,"said analyst Thomas Mullarkey. "We believe that during the next few years, Imperial's cigarette volumes in the developed parts of the world will continue to steadily erode and that the firm's "rest of world" segment will see volume increases as Asian, African, and Middle Eastern smokers continue to increase their tobacco use. We intend to maintain our fair value estimates on the company's shares and view the stock as fairly valued." 

To read Mullarkey's full analysis, Premium subscribers can find his report here

Pearson (PSON)
In addition to releasing nine-month results, the company also announced an agreement to combine its Penguin publishing unit with Bertelsmann's Random House unit.

"We assume there will be some cost savings from combining the two entities as well as transitioning away from physical books to e-books," said analyst Michael Corty. "We would not be surprised to see further consolidation in the industry ... The big picture is that we think the main issue facing publishers is the long-run price point for e-books and how much of the sales price will be shared with distributors," he said.

As for the nine-month results, Corty described them as "weak", but still believes the company is in a strong competitive position.

"We believe Pearson continues to gain market share and has the best competitive advantage among all education publishers," said Corty.

To read Corty's full analysis, Premium subscribers can find his report here

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The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security NamePriceChange (%)Morningstar
Rating
Barclays PLC181.94 GBX1.11Rating
BP PLC509.40 GBX-1.43Rating
GSK PLC1,589.00 GBX-0.06Rating
Imperial Brands PLC1,752.00 GBX0.98Rating
Pearson PLC993.00 GBX0.26
Standard Chartered PLC662.80 GBX3.05Rating

About Author

Alanna Petroff

Alanna Petroff  is a financial journalist with Morningstar UK.

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