LONDON -- The shares of�Reckitt Benckiser� (LSE: RB ) (NASDAQOTH: RBGPF ) climbed 1% to 4,755 pence during early London trade this morning after the consumer-products giant revealed first-quarter sales of 2.5 billion pounds.
Reckitt said the sales figure was 7% higher than last year and was driven by a strong emerging-market performance and "higher incidences of cold and flu in the U.S."
Reckitt's Health division, which makes cold-remedy products such as�Strepsils,�Nurofen�and�Mucinex, enjoyed revenue growth of 5% in North America and Europe. The division's revenue grew 13% like-for-like, and now account for 27% of group sales.
Reckitt's recent emphasis on emerging markets continues, with Latin America, Asia, and Pacific revenues growing by 11%, as the group continues to roll out its "powerbrands" such as�Durex�and�Gaviscon�in India, Brazil, and China.
The company's largest division, Hygiene, grew like-for-like sales by 9%, reflecting the group's overall strong first-quarter results.
Top 10 Construction Material Companies To Buy For 2015: Beam Inc (BEAM)
Beam Inc. (Beam), incorporated on October 1, 1985, is a premium spirits company that makes and sells branded distilled spirits products in markets worldwide. The Company's principal products include bourbon whiskey, tequila, Scotch whisky, Canadian whisky, vodka, cognac, rum, cordials, and ready-to-drink pre-mixed cocktails. The Company's portfolio consists of brands the Company identifies as Power Brands, Rising Stars, Local Jewels and values Creators. The Power Brands are the Company's core brand equities, with global reach in premium categories. Rising Stars are smaller premium brands. Brands identified as Local Jewels act as Power Brands in local markets. Value Creators include a variety of brands. The Company's three reportable segments are the geographic regions, which consists of North America, Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA), and Asia-Pacific/South America (APSA). Each segment is engaged in the manufacture and sale of distilled spirits products. In May 2012, the Company acquired the Pinnacle vodka and Calico Jack rum brands and certain related assets (Pinnacle assets) from White Rock Distilleries, Inc. In January 2012, Beam acquired Cooley Distillery plc (Cooley), an Irish whiskey producer.
The Company�� Power Brands include Jim Beam Bourbon, Maker's Mark Bourbon, Sauza Tequila, Courvoisier Cognac, Canadian Club Whisky, Teacher's Scotch and Pinnacle Vodka. Beam�� Rising Stars brand includes Laphroaig Scotch, Knob Creek Bourbon, Basil Hayden's Bourbon, Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey, Cruzan Rum, Hornitos Tequila, Skinnygirl Cocktails and Sourz Liqueurs. The principal markets for the Company's spirits products are the United States, Australia, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Canada, and the Company continues to invest in emerging markets such as India, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Central Europe, Asia, and other geographies.
During the year ended December 31, 2012, Power Brands, Rising Stars, and combined Local Jewels/Value Creators (including non-branded sales) repre! sent approximately 60%, 15%, and 25%, respectively, of the Company's net sales. Approximately 55% of its consolidated net sales were generated in the United States (based on country of destination) during 2012. In the United States, the Company sells its products either to wholesale distributors for resale to retail outlets or, in those states that control alcohol sales, to state governments who then sell them to retail customers and consumers. In the Company's other global markets, the Company uses a variety of route-to-market models, including third party distributors, global or regional duty free customers, other spirits producers and its joint ventures with The Edrington Group Ltd.
The Company competes with Bacardi Limited, Brown-Forman Corporation, Constellation Brands, Inc., Davide Campari Milano-S.p.A., Diageo PLC, Pernod Ricard S.A. and Remy Cointreau S.A.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
The muted returns in the major indexes belie the big moves in some individual stocks, which were flying around like, well, Jack Ryan chasing down a Russian terrorist who had–spoiler alert–kidnapped his wife. On the downside, Nu Skin (NUS) plunged 42% this week on reports that the Chinese government would investigate it for being a pyramid scheme. Best Buy (BBY), meanwhile, plunged 35% after it unwrapped holiday sales that were explosively bad. But it was also the week that saw Alcoa (AA) jumped 12% after closing it announced that it would shutter two potlines at its Massena East smelter, while Beam (BEAM) jumped 24% after the bourbon distiller agreed to be purchased by Japan’s Suntory. Tesla Motors (TSLA) gained 17% after saying it would deliver more cars in December than it had forecast.
- [By Jonas Elmerraji]
Bourbon giant Beam (BEAM) is enjoying strong tailwinds thanks to increased consumption of its namesake spirits. The firm is the name behind Jim Beam and Maker's Mark bourbon as well as Sauza tequila, Pinnacle vodka and Cruzan rum. Since spinning off from what was then Fortune Brands in 2011, this stock hasn't done much in the way of price, but it has made leaps and bounds fundamentally. That financial improvement paves the way for a dividend boost.
Beam is well-positioned in the spirit business. Liquor consumers are sticky. Because BEAM owns some of the most attractive brands in the business, it's less likely to see brand attrition than others. And more recently, the embrace of drinkers' demand for "craft" alcoholic beverages has provided a fast-growing opportunity for the firm: a line of small-batch bourbons. That same small-batch approach could spill over to the firm's other liquor brands in a very positive way; Beam already has a winning model to copy, after all.
In the last few years, Beam has essentially halved its debt, and it's kept balance sheet liquidity very healthy. As a result, income trends look very strong -- and more of that income is available for shareholder payouts rather than bank obligations. While the firm's 1.5% dividend payout it far from high-yield, investors should expect a raise in the coming quarters.
Top 5 Consumer Companies To Buy Right Now: Vector Group Ltd (VGR)
Vector Group Ltd is a holding company. The Company operates in Tobacco and Real Estate. The Tobacco segment consists of the manufacture and sale of cigarettes. The Real Estate segment includes the Company�� investments in consolidated and non-consolidated real estate businesses. The Company is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States through its Liggett Group LLC (Liggett) and Vector Tobacco Inc. (Vector Tobacco) subsidiaries, and the real estate business through its New Valley LLC (New Valley) subsidiary, which is seeking to acquire additional operating companies and real estate properties. New Valley has real estate-related investments, including Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC (Douglas Elliman Realty) (50% interest), New Valley Oaktree Chelsea Eleven LLC (40% interest) and Fifty Third-Five Building LLC (50% interest), Sesto Holdings S.r.L (7.2% interest), MS/WG 1107 Broadway Holdings LLC (1107 Broadway) (5% interest), NV SOCAL LLC (26% interest) and HFZ East 68th Street (18% interest), where other partners hold interests.
As of February 15, 2012, 52 of the 54 units in the Chelsea Eleven LLC real estate development had been sold. During the year ended December, 31, 2011, New Valley invested in MS/WG 1107 Broadway Holdings LLC for an approximate indirect 5% interest. In September 2011, MS/WG 1107 Broadway Holdings LLC acquired the 1107 Broadway property in Manhattan, New York. In February 2011, New Valley invested in Lofts 21 LLC for an approximate 12% interest. In October 2011, New Valley invested in Hill Street Partners LLP (Hill) for an approximate 17.39% interest. Hill purchased a 37% interest in Hill Street SEP (Hotel Taiwana), which owns a hotel located in St. Barts, French West Indies. The hotel consists of 30 suites, six pools, a restaurant, lounge and gym. The purpose of the investment is to renovate and the sell the hotel in its entirety or as hotel-condos. In December 2011, New Valley invested in a condominium conversion project for an approximate 1! 8% interest. The building is a 12-story, 105,000 square foot residential rental building located on 68th Street between Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York.
Tobacco Operations
Liggett is the operating successor to Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company. During 2011, Liggett was a manufacturer of cigarettes in the United States. Liggett�� manufacturing facilities are located in Mebane, North Carolina where it manufactures most of Vector Tobacco�� cigarettes pursuant to a contract manufacturing agreement. As of December 31, 2011, Liggett and Vector Tobacco have no foreign operations. The Company�� tobacco subsidiaries manufacture and sell cigarettes in the United States. Liggett produces cigarettes in approximately 118 combinations of length, style and packaging. Liggett�� brand portfolio includes PYRAMID, GRAND PRIX , LIGGETT SELECT , EVE and USA and various Partner Brands and private label brands.
Liggett Vector Brands LLC (LVB), which coordinates its tobacco subsidiaries��sales and marketing efforts, along with certain support functions, has an agreement with Circle K Stores, Inc., which operates more than 3,300 convenience stores in the United States under the Circle K and Mac�� names, to supply MONTEGO, a deep discount brand, exclusively for the Circle K and Mac�� stores. The MONTEGO brand was offered under LVB's Partner Brands program. LVB also has an agreement with Sunoco Inc., which operates approximately 675 Sunoco APlus branded convenience stores in the United States, to manufacture SILVER EAGLE. SILVER EAGLE, a deep discount brand, is exclusive to Sunoco and was the second brand to be offered under LVB's Partner Brands program. Liggett also manufactures BRONSON cigarettes as part of a multi-year Partner Brands agreement with QuikTrip, a convenience store chain with more than 580 stores.
New Valley LLC
New Valley is engaged in the real estate business and is seeking to acquire additional real estate properties an! d operati! ng companies. New Valley owns a 50% interest in Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC, which operates residential brokerage company in the New York City metropolitan area. New Valley also holds an investment in a 450-acre approved master planned community in Palm Springs, California (Escena), holds investment interests in various real estate projects in Manhattan, New York, southern California and Milan, Italy through both debt and equity investments.
Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC
Douglas Elliman Realty is engaged in the real estate brokerage business through its two subsidiaries which conduct business as Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. The two brokerage companies have 62 offices with approximately 3,975 real estate agents in the metropolitan New York area. The Long Island brokerage operation, is the residential brokerage company on Long Island with 44 offices and approximately 1,850 real estate agents. During 2011, the Long Island brokerage operation closed approximately 6,163 transactions. Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate acts as a broker in residential real estate transactions.
Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate also offers relocation services to employers, which provide a variety of specialized services primarily concerned with facilitating the resettlement of transferred employees. These services include sales and marketing of transferees��existing homes for their corporate employer, assistance in finding homes, moving services, educational and school placement counseling, customized videos, property marketing assistance, rental assistance, area tours, international relocation, group move services, marketing and management of foreclosed properties, career counseling, spouse/partner employment assistance, and financial services. Clients can select these programs and services on a fee basis according to their needs. DE Capital Mortgage LLC primarily originates loans for purchases of properties located on Long Island, New York City and Westchester. Approx! imately o! ne-half of these loans are for home sales transactions, in which Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate acts as a broker.
Douglas Elliman Realty is also engaged in the management of cooperatives, condominiums and apartments though its subsidiary, Residential Management Group, LLC, which conducts business as Douglas Elliman Property Management and is a manager of apartments, cooperatives and condominiums in the New York metropolitan area. Residential Management Group provides service third-party fee management for approximately 350 properties, representing approximately 47,000 units in New York
The Company competes with Philip Morris USA Inc., Reynolds America Inc., Lorillard Tobacco Company, Commonwealth Brands, Inc., Century-21, ERA, RE/MAX, Coldwell Banker, GMAC Home Services and NRT LLC.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Dzombak]
Vector Group (NYSE: VGR ) is the third-highest-yielding dividend stock in June with a trailing yield of 9.9%. The company has two main businesse: tobacco and real estate. The company manufactures and sells cigarettes through its Liggett Group and Vector Tobacco subsidiaries under the Pyramid, Grand Prix, Liggett Select, and Eve brands. The company is the fourth-largest cigarette manufacturer in the U.S. behind giants Altria (NYSE: MO ) , Lorillard, and Reynolds American. There are some advantages to being small. Vector has a cost advantage stemming from the settlement between Vector and the U.S.: The company does not have to make annual payments unless its market share exceeds 1.65% of the U.S. market. As such, the company positions its brands as discount cigarettes to capitalize on its advantage.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
The IPO has a mixed impact on other real-estate related companies.�Realogy (RLGY) has fallen 0.2% to $43.62, while Vector Group (VGR), which has both tobacco and real-estate brokerage businesses, has dropped 0.5% to $15.99. Zillow�(Z) has jumped 4.1% to $90.44.
Top 5 Consumer Companies To Buy Right Now: Vishay Precision Group Inc.(VPG)
Vishay Precision Group, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets components based on resistive foil technology, sensors, and sensor-based systems in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company?s products include precision foil resistors, foil strain gages, transducers and load cells, modules, instruments, weighing and control systems, and PhotoStress coatings and instruments; and sensors that convert mechanical inputs into an electronic signal for display, processing, interpretation, or control by the company?s instrumentation and systems products. Its products are used in waste management, bulk hauling, logging, scales manufacturing, engineering systems, pharmaceutical, oil, chemical, steel, paper, and food industries, as well as in military/aerospace, medical, agriculture, and construction markets. The company sells its products through original equipment manufacturers, electronic manufacturing services companies, and independent distributors, as well as directly t o end-use customers. Vishay Precision Group, Inc. was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Vishay Precision Group (NYSE: VPG ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Vishay Precision Group (NYSE: VPG ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Top 5 Consumer Companies To Buy Right Now: Outerwall Inc (OUTR)
Outerwall Inc, formerly Coinstar, Inc., incorporated on October 12, 1993, is a provider of automated retail solutions, which offers convenient products and services. the Company's offerings in automated retail include its Redbox business, where consumers can rent or purchase movies and video games from self-service kiosks (Redbox segment), and its Coin business, where consumers can convert their coin to cash or stored value products at self-service coin counting kiosks (Coin segment). Its New Ventures business (New Ventures segment) is focused on identifying, evaluating, building, and developing self-service concepts in the marketplace. On June 9, 2011, the Company completed the sale transaction of the Money Transfer Business to Sigue Corporation (Sigue). In June 2012, the Company�� wholly owned subsidiary, Redbox Automated Retail, LLC, acquired certain assets of NCR Corp's self-service entertainment DVD kiosk business. In October 2013, Jana Partners LLC acquired a 13.5% stake in Outerwall Inc.
Redbox
Within the Company�� Redbox segment, it operates 35,400 Redbox kiosks, in 29,300 locations, where consumers can rent or purchase movies and video games. Its Redbox kiosks are available in every state, as well as Puerto Rico and are installed at grocery stores, mass retailers, drug stores, restaurants and convenience stores, including Walgreens, Walmart and McDonalds. Its Redbox kiosks supply the functionality of a traditional video rental store, which occupy an area of less than 10 square feet. Consumers use a touch screen to select their titles, swipe a valid credit or debit card, and receive their movie or video game. The daily rental fee at a Redbox kiosk is a flat fee plus tax for one daily rental and, if the consumer chooses to keep the movie or video game for additional days, the consumer is charged for each additional day at the same daily rental fee. Its consumers can rent a movie or video game from one location and return their rental to any of its Redbox locations.! In addition, its consumers may reserve a movie or video game online or through a smart phone application and pick it up at the selected Redbox location.
The Company generates revenue through fees charged to rent or purchase a movie or video game, and it pays retailers a percentage of its revenue. Its content library consists of movies and video games available for rent or purchase. It obtains its movie and video game content through revenue sharing agreements and license agreements with studios and game publishers, as well as through distributors and other suppliers.
Coin
As of December 31, 2011, within the Company�� Coin segment, it owned and operated approximately 20,200 coin-counting kiosks (approximately 17,200, of which offer a range of stored value products to consumers) in 19,900 locations, where consumers feed loose change into the kiosks, which count the change and then dispense vouchers or, in some cases, issue stored value products, at the consumer�� election. Its Coin kiosks are available across the United States, where they provide service to retailers, such as Kroger and Walmart, and in Canada, Puerto Rico, Ireland and the United Kingdom. It generates revenue through transaction fees from its consumers and product partners. Each voucher lists the dollar value of coins counted, less its transaction fee. When consumers elect to have a stored value product issued, the transaction fee normally charged to the consumer is charged instead to the card issuers for the coin-counting services.
New Ventures
Within the Company�� New Ventures segment, it identifies, evaluates, builds and develops self-service concepts in the automated retail space. Its New Ventures segment consists of its coffee, refurbished electronics and photo self-service concepts. It generates revenue through fees charged for products and services offered to consumers in select test markets where it is testing business concepts.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sue Chang]
Outerwall (OUTR) �shares rose almost 8% in after-hours trading after Jana Partners LLC, an activist investment fund, disclosed a stake in the company previously known as Coinstar. Jana now owns a 13.5% stake in Outerwall and will pursue strategic alternatives, including a sale, The Wall Street Journal reported. Outerwall operates a network of DVD rental kiosks at malls and grocery stores.
- [By Sue Chang and Saumya Vaishampayan]
Outerwall Inc. (OUTR) �shares surged 11%. The company, which operates Redbox movie kiosks and Coinstar machines, posted fourth-quarter core earnings that beat analyst estimates and authorized a $350 million buyback.
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