Enerplus Shines; Deere Slumps -- February 27, 2015

Reporting today:

Deere (DE), forecast 83 cents: net income was $386.8 million, or $1.12 per share, for the quarter that ended Jan. 31., the equipment-maker's first fiscal quarter of 2015.

That was a drop of 43% from the year-earlier net income of $681.1 million, or $1.81 per share.
Worldwide revenues for the first quarter decreased 17%, to $6.383 billion, compared with $7.654 billion last year.
Deere's ag business slumped, but other operations were strong.
Analysts had expected the profit tumble, so the stock didn't plunge in pre-market trades. It fell as low as $90.16, but recovered a bit and was trading around $91, off less than 1% from the previous close of $91.71.

Interestingly enough, I think I read the other day Warren Buffett took a position in Deere a few months ago. 

Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), forecast 21 cents, before market open;

4th Quarter 2014: Despite the fall in commodity prices, funds flow was essentially unchanged quarter over quarter at $213 million due to higher production volumes and the strength of our hedging program.

Production continued to grow during the fourth quarter averaging approximately 105,600 BOE per day, up modestly from the previous quarter despite the sale of non-core production completed on September 30, 2014. Compared to the same period in 2013, fourth quarter production was up 12%.

We continued to see strong performance from our Bakken/Three Forks properties in North Dakota with average production increasing by 2,900 BOE per day from the previous quarter.

Crude oil and natural gas liquids accounted for 44% of fourth quarter volumes.

Natural gas production from the Marcellus increased 5% from the previous quarter, despite an average of 6,000 – 7,000 BOE per day of production voluntarily curtailed to preserve value in this low natural gas price environment.

Overall, corporate natural gas production declined slightly quarter over quarter primarily as a result of non-core Canadian natural gas asset sales.

Cash operating costs increased marginally from the third quarter to $10.75 per BOE due to continued production curtailments on our lower operating cost Marcellus properties. General and administrative expenses also increased quarter over quarter to $2.62 per BOE as a result of severance costs incurred in the quarter. We invested $181 million in capital projects during the quarter, down from $208 million in the previous quarter, primarily as a result of a slowdown in activity in the Marcellus. Over three quarters of the spending was directed to oil projects with a total of 25 net wells drilled and 18 net wells brought on-stream. Our adjusted payout ratio decreased to 113% compared to 122% in the previous quarter, driven by lower capital spending in the fourth quarter.