Western Union shares tumble to their lowest in 3 yearsOctober 31, 2012 - 21:36 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Shares of Western Union tumbled to their lowest point in more than three years on Wednesday, Oct 31, as the company lowered its full-year earnings forecast, AP reports. On Tuesday Western Union cut its earnings guidance to a range of $1.60 to $1.63 per share from a previous projection of $1.68 to $1.72 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet expect earnings of $1.75 per share. For the third quarter, the company reported earnings of 45 cents per share on revenue of $1.42 billion. Wall Street predicted earnings of 45 cents per share on revenue of $1.47 billion. Western Union also announced that the Stewart Stockdale, president of global consumer financial services, has left the company. Citi Investment Research's Ashwin Shirvaikar said that Western Union's third-quarter performance was disappointing, as it deals with increased competition and difficult economic conditions. The analyst said that the revised full-year forecast implies slower earnings per share growth this year and likely declines in earnings per share next year. Weakening fundamentals and announced strategic changes — like price cuts — may add uncertainty to future prospects and feed into fears about the long-term competitive positioning of the business, Shirvaikar added. The analyst maintained a $24 price target and "Buy" rating. Thomas McCrohan of Janney Capital Markets lowered the company's price target to $20 from $24 and kept a "Buy" rating. In a client note the analyst said that while Western Union reported decent third-quarter results, its outlook is a bit lackluster. Western Union Co.'s shares fell $5.03, or 28.1 percent, to $12.90 in midday trading. The shares hit $12.48 earlier in the session, their lowest point since March 2009. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Police try to impede Armenian Church head’s access to war memorial Police tried to stop the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, from visiting a war memorial. Greece says ready to help as Armenia fights flooding consequences Greece is ready to assist Armenia in combatting the consequences of deadly floods in the country’s north. “He will leave”: Protest leader no longer demands meeting with Pashinyan Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan no longer demands a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Lemkin Institute petition seeks release of Armenians in Azerbaijan The Lemkin Institute is deeply concerned about the continued illegal detention of political prisoners from Karabakh in Azerbaijan. |