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 saabira.chaudhuri@dowjones.com
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