Cantor Morning News | Overnight Stocks

BX +/- Private equity was dealt a heavy blow yesterday when Blackstone postponed plans to float Merlin Entertainments Group, the operator of Madame Tussauds, underlining the severe difficulties facing buyout houses that want to tap the U.K.’s public markets. Merlin, which also owns Alton Towers, was the second IPO postponed by BX in 24 hours after it pulled the much more advanced flotation of Travelport, the American travel business, on Wed. BX’s move was a blow to the entire market for London IPOs, but because Merlin was the poster child for a swath of private-equity backed listings, its postponement is expected to have the most significant repercussions for the buyout industry. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article7024279.ece

Restaurants - Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. qCMG, Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. BWLD and BJ's Restaurants Inc. BJRI dashed high hopes that 2010 would be the year that the mid-tier restaurant industry makes a comeback. Shares in the sector tumbled in after-hours trade as some of the sector's best-performing chains missed elevated Street expectations. A 12.6% drop in BWLD shares led the fall. Shares in CMG were down 3.9%. Prior to Thurs.'s financial reports, shares in BWLD and CMG had posted year-to-date gains of around 20% and 15%, respectively.

"Expectations were high and these were some of the stocks that had the highest expectations" attached, RBC Capital Markets analyst Larry Miller told Reuters.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1121148120100212?type=marketsNews

Euro - An attempt by Europe’s richest countries to end the crisis engulfing the euro failed to impress financial markets yesterday as the single currency fell, despite promises that the battered Greek economy would not be allowed to implode.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/europe/article7024221.ece

Greece - Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, mounted stiff resistance tonight to any swift bailout of Greece, as a rift opened up between European capitals over how best to tackle the risks posed to the euro. Despite a show of Franco-German unity on the crisis and the first statement from EU leaders pledging to safeguard the currency's stability, hopes on the markets of a German-led rescue plan to shore up Greece's critical public finances were dashed by Merkel, who repeatedly emphasised that Athens would need to put its own house in order and brushed aside all questions of financial support. "Germany is stepping totally on the brakes on financial assistance," said a senior EU diplomat. "On legal grounds, on constitutional grounds and on principle." http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/feb/11/germany-greece-merkel-bailout-euro/print

GOOG + Google will now use hours of search history to target ads that users see when they search keywords on the site, the co. announced. Previously, GOOG targeted on a query-by-query basis; the site used only current search terms to match ads from third-party Web sites. Now, GOOG says its ad server, AdSense, has "recently started to expand the use of the query words ... to a few hours so we can so we can continue to deliver more relevant ads." That means if a user searches a term, GOOG will store that query and may show targeted ads related to that keyword hours later, either on the search engine page itself or another site that uses Google ads.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/11/technology/google_ads_search_history/index.htm

VIA + For the major media conglomerates that were hampered by both the economic recession and technology-driven changes in consumer habits, the world is starting to look brighter. Viacom became the latest to show improvement when it reported a surge in quarterly profit on Thurs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/business/media/12viacom.html?ref=business

CSTR + Coinstar Inc. said its Q4 profit rose 30% as business from its Redbox self-service DVD rental kiosks surged. The profit of $5.5M, or $.18 p/s, compared to a profit of $4.2M, or $.15 p/s, in the Q4 a year ago. Fourth-quarter revenues soared 44% to $328M, largely because of growth in DVD kiosks.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/02/11/business-financial-administration-apfn-us-earns-coinstar_7350937.html

MCW, CHC + Macquarie Group Ltd. sold most of its Australian real-estate management business to local property fund manager Charter Hall Group in a roughly US$267M deal Friday, its latest step to distance itself from the listed fund model it pioneered. The financial firm said the sale includes stakes in the 2 major real estate investment trusts it manages. MCE Nicholas Moore said in a statement the deal was "consistent with our strategy regarding the listed specialist funds business," and that Charter Hall has a "specialized real estate capability which Macquarie believes will be attractive for fund stakeholders." The property funds management group will acquire 7.5% stakes in Macquarie Office Trust and Macquarie CountryWide Trust and a 3.5% stake in the unlisted Macquarie Direct Property Fund for 189M Australian dollars (US$168.3M). It will pay Macquarie a further A$108M for the management rights over these entities and two other unlisted property funds.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703525704575060652622638726.html?ru=MKTW&mod=MKTW

Jobs +/- About a quarter of the 8.4M jobs eliminated since the recession began won't be coming back and will ultimately need to be replaced by other types of work in growing industries, according to economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703382904575059424289353714.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

Madoff Securities - Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are pursuing criminal tax-fraud cases against Bernard Madoff's brother and sons. His brother, Peter Madoff, was the chief compliance officer of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. Sons Mark and Andrew Madoff helped run the firm's market-making division, which was separate from the investment arm where Bernard Madoff perpetrated his multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. Through representatives, they all have denied knowledge of the fraud.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704337004575059753363224076.html?mod=djemalertNEWS

SSRI + Silver Standard Resources Inc., which owns the Pirquitas silver mine in Argentina, said it plans a common stock offering worth $100M. SSRI said it would use the proceeds from the offering, led by UBS Securities Canada, to fund exploration, for working capital, and to pay down debt.

Underwriters have an option to buy additional common shares for gross proceeds of up to approximately $15M. The pricing of the offering was not disclosed. SSRI shares closed 0.68% higher at C$19.23 in Toronto on Thurs. On Nasdaq, the shares closed up 1.79% at $18.30.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1111642520100211

AMX + Mexico's antitrust regulator has approved Carlos Slim's plan to consolidate his telecommunications assets, according to the regulator's website. Slim's America Movil AMX is Latin America's top mobile telephone provider and plans to acquire his holding co. Carso Global Telecom CGTVF. CGTVF controls Mexican fixed-line operator Telmex and regional operator Telmex Internacional, both of which are also controlled by Slim. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1115234320100211

NILE +/- Online jewelry retailer Blue Nile Inc. posted a quarterly profit that missed Wall Street expectations and gave a weak outlook for the Q1, sending its shares down nearly 13%. Expectations had been high for theWeb retailer after bullish comments in recent months from CEO Diane Irvine, who had said Dec. revenues were projected to rise 26%. "The hope of strong fourth quarter revenue growth based on her comments was perhaps helping to prop the stock up," said Benchmark Co. analyst Frederick Moran. "But this shows a miss on the top and bottom line for the fourth quarter and modest guidance." NILE reported net income of $5.4M, or $.35 p/s, in its fiscal Q4 ended Jan. 3, from a profit of $3.5M, or $.24 p/s a year earlier. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1119484320100211

BERK + On Friday, millions of Americans will for the first time own a piece of Warren Buffett. Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., whose multi-thousand-dollar share price made it a thinly traded luxury of wealthy investors and institutions, is going mainstream as it joins the S&P's 500-stock index. More than $1T of investor money directly tracks the index. The result is a scramble for Berkshire shares by index funds that, by one estimate, will reach $14B of buying. This further exposes Berkshire stock to the stratagems of fast-moving traders, a brand of investor anathema to Mr. Buffett's general buy-and-hold approach.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703382904575059633167905988.html?ru=MKTW&mod=MKTW#printMode

Fed's Balance Sheet +/- The Fed's balance sheet, a broad gauge of its lending to the financial system, rose to $2.239T in the week ended Feb. 10 from $2.231T in the prior week. Borrowing at the Fed's discount window averaged $87.7B a day in the week ended Feb. 10 versus $88.99B a day in the week ended Feb. 3. Fed holdings of agency debt totaled $164.95B in the week ended Feb. 10 versus $164.66B the prior week.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSNYS00776220100211

Heard on the Street +/- Discusses if Google GOOG truly wants to help speed the development of universal high-speed Internet access, it will need to do much more.

BAC +/- An aide to retired Bank of America Corp. CEO Kenneth Lewis is stepping down from his post after three decades at the bank, the co. said. J. Steele Alphin, 58, BAC's chief administrative officer, will retire and be replaced by Andrea Smith, 42, as the newly retitled head of global human resources. "Its not surprising to see this," said Tony Plath, University of North Carolina at Charlotte banking professor. "He was really Ken's confidant inside the bank, and now Ken's gone."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1118882520100211

BEC +/- Biomedical test systems maker Beckman Coulter Inc. said its Q4 profit fell, weighed down by costs related to its recent purchase of Olympus Diagnostics. The co. said it earned $64M, or $.90 p/s, compared with $75M, or $1.18 a/s, in the year-earlier period. Excluding special items, BEC earned $1.29 p/s. Analysts on average had expected $1.26 p/s, according to Thomson Reuters. Quarterly revenue rose 22% to $990M, helped by the co.'s recent acquisition of Olympus Diagnostics. Wall Street had expected $1.03B. For full-year 2010, BEC forecast a profit of $4.40 to $4.55 p/s, excluding special items. Wall Street expects $4.50 p/s. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1124960620100211

CHH +/- Choice Hotels International Inc.'s adjusted Q4 profit beat Wall Street estimates, hurt in part by a decline in franchising revenue, and forecast Q1 earnings below estimates. For the Q1, the co. expects to earn $0.25 a/s, while analysts were expecting $0.27 p/s, according to Thomson Reuters. CHH, which franchises Comfort Inn and Cambria Suites hotels, said franchising revenue declined 13% to $62.2M during the Q4. Net income came in at $23.6M, or $.40 a/s, compared with $18.7M, or $.30 a/s, in the year-ago quarter. On an adjusted basis, it earned $.43 a/s, while analysts were expecting $.41. Domestic system-wide revenue per available room fell 14.4% during the quarter. For 2010, the co. now expects to earn between $1.65 a/s and $1.70 a/s. In Jan., CHH projected earnings of $1.70 p/s for the year. Shares of the co. closed at $31.69. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE61A0KD20100211

EPIC + Business software co. Epicor Software Corp. said its Q4 profit soared on a jump in software license revenues and a decline in operating costs. Earnings were $6.7M, or $.11 in the three months ended Dec. 31. That compares with a profit of $1.5M, or $.03 a/s, in the year-ago period.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/02/11/business-technology-hardware-amp-equipment-us-earns-epicor-software_7350920.html

WU - Western Union Co. has agreed to pay $94M to resolve a decade-long probe into alleged illegal money laundering into Mexico involving the co.'s money transfers. "This is a major step in our ability to crack down on drug cartels and organized border crime," said Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, whose state led the investigation, in a statement. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1119905220100211

Fed Reserve Bank of NY - A former Federal Reserve Bank of New York employee and his brother were sentenced to prison after they pleaded guilty to running an identity theft scheme in which they stole data from the central bank. Curtis and Kenneth Wiltshire used the data to apply for more than $450K of student loans and $525K of loans to buy boats and recreational vehicles, prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel sentenced Curtis Wiltshire, 35, a former information and technical analyst at the New York Fed, to 40 months in prison and ordered him to forfeit $200K. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1121937620100211

Reuters

BA, LMT, NOC + A U.S. high-powered airborne laser weapon shot down a ballistic missile in the first successful test of a futuristic directed energy weapon, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said on Friday.

The agency said in a statement the test took place at 8:44 p.m. PST (11:44 p.m. EST) at Point Mugu's Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division Sea Range off Ventura in central California.

The high-powered Airborne Laser system is being developed by Boeing Co., the prime contractor, and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. Boeing produces the airframe, a modified 747 jumbo jet, while Northrop Grumman supplies the higher-energy laser and Lockheed Martin is developing the beam and fire control systems.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61B18C20100212

Gold Futures - Gold prices fell 1.5% in Europe on Friday to a low of $1,077.65 an ounce as the dollar extended gains vs. the euro, denting the precious metal's appeal as an alternative asset. Spot gold was bid at $1,078.25 an ounce at 1031 GMT, against $1,095.85 late in NY on Thursday.

TM +/- Toyota Motor said its embattled head is planning a U.S. trip early next month but would not confirm whether he would attend congressional hearings probing the automaker's safety recalls. U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government committee, is pressing his case to get Akio Toyoda to testify before a congressional committee, saying he would support a subpoena to force his appearance.

China +/- China sprung a surprise on global markets on the eve of its New Year's holiday with an increase in banks' reserve requirements, a move that can slow bank lending and tamp down on rising inflation. Although investors had been expecting the People's Bank of China to push the reserve requirement ratio higher after an increase last month, few thought the second rise would come so soon.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61B1PO20100212

Oil Futures - Oil fell below $75 a barrel on Friday, pressured by a stronger dollar on growing disappointment among investors over the lack of details emerging from the European Union summit to help debt-laden Greece. Despite the dip, oil is on track for a 5% rise this week, its best weekly gain in six weeks, led by signs of higher heating demand due to U.S. snowstorms and a bullish global oil demand forecast from the International Energy Agency.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/35360206

Euro-zone GDP - The euro zone's economic recovery lost steam in the final Q of last year as GDP barely expanded, with France the only one of the currency area's four biggest economies to post growth. The 16-country area's GDP edged up 0.1% in the Oct.-Dec. period compared with the previous Q, and contracted by 2.1% from the last Q of '08, EU data office Eurostat said in a flash estimate. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected quarterly growth of 0.3% and a yr-on-yr decline of 1.9%. Over the full year 2009, euro zone GDP fell 4.0%.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61B1HC20100212

BNI, BRKA + Berkshire is buying the 77.4% of Burlington Northern that it did not already own. The cash-and-stock transaction was valued at $26.4B, or $100 p/s, and valued all BNI at about $34B. "Tomorrow begins the first century of ownership of BNSF by Berkshire Hathaway," Buffett, 79, said in a statement. "I'm looking forward to every day of it as our railroad does its part to ensure the future prosperity of the country." The roots of Burlington Northern date back to 1849.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61A3TN20100211

MarketWatch.com

MOT +/- Motorola Inc. said that it plans to split into two separate units in the Q1 of 2011. One entity will include the co.'s mobile devices and home businesses, and the other will include enterprise mobility solutions and networks businesses. MOT will proceed with the split through stock dividend to shareholders. Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of MOT, will be the CEO of the mobile devices unit, and Greg Brown, co-CEO with Jha, will be the CEO of the enterprise mobility solutions side, effective immediately. Both cos. will continue to use the MOT brand after the separation is completed.

YHOO +/- Yahoo Inc. disclosed that co-founder Jerry Yang has established a blind trust to handle the sale of 3M of his co. shares, while co-founder David Filo has established a stock sales plan to shed up to 2M shares. Yang, the former CEO who stepped down in late 2008 to take the role of Chief Yahoo, owned roughly 54.1M shares of YHOO, or a 3.9% stake, as of April 2, 2009, while Filo owned about 79.9M shares, or a 5.7% stake. Yang's trust was established in April of last year and will terminate at the end of this year, YHOO said. Filo's stock sales are scheduled to begin in May.

RNWK +/- RealNetworks reported a Q4 loss of $13.3M or $.11 p/s, compared with a loss of $240.5M or $1.78 p/s, for the year-earlier period. Revenue was $145.5M down from $152.6M for the same quarter the previous year. The results included impairment and restructuring charges of $.05 p/s, the co. said. Analysts had expected the co. to report a loss of $.06 p/s, on revenue of $143.45M, according to a consensus survey by TR. For the current quarter, the co. said it expects revenue "to decline by up to 12% year-over-year and up to 15% sequentially."

MFE + McAfee Inc. said that its Q4 net income rose to $54.5M or $.34 p/s, from $45.4M or $.29 p/s in the same period a year earlier. Co. said revenue rose 24% to $525.7M. Excluding special items, MFE said earnings were $.64 p/s. Analysts polled by TR had expected MFE to report earnings excluding items of $.64 p/s, and $514.8M in revenue. Co. said that CFO and COO Rocky Pimentel will be retiring later this year. MFE has started a search for a successor to Pimentel, "and plans to complete this process later this year." The co. added that Pimentel will remain in his current role "to ease the transition."

CEPH + Cephalon Inc. said that its Q4 profit increased to $96.6M or $1.23 p/s, from $5M or $.06 p/s, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, co. would have reported earnings of $1.66 p/s. Revenue rose to $575.1M from $540.1M a year ago. Analysts surveyed by FSR estimated a quarterly profit of $1.60 p/s on revenue of $571.2M. CEPH sees adjusted earnings of $1.60 to $1.70 a share for the Q1, compared with a consensus estimate of $1.54 from analysts.

ACL + Alcon Inc said that its Q4 profit rose to $458M or $1.51 p/s, from $424M or $1.41 p/s in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $1.72B from $1.5B last year. Analysts surveyed by FSR estimated a profit of $1.51 p/s on revenue of $1.59B. Co. sees 2010 earnings of $7.30 to $7.55 p/s, compared with the consensus estimate of $7.39 p/s from analysts.

Bonus Tax +/- Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, introduced a bill to impose a 50% tax on any bonus money in excess of $25K at all banks that received government support through the TARP. The bill is companion legislation to a bill introduced in the House by Rep. Peter Welsh, D-Vt., which would tax bonuses in excess of $50K at TARP recipients. "Vermonters and Ohioans alike are wondering why the same Wall Street banks that survived thanks to a lifeline thrown by the taxpayer are now rewarding themselves with excessive bonuses rather than investing in small business lending," Welch said.

BX +/- Blackstone Group has postponed a plan to float theme park operator Merlin Entertainments Group on the London Stock Exchange, according to a report in the Times (of London) newspaper. It was the second IPO scrapped by the buyout firm in the space of around 24 hours after it dropped more advanced plans to list travel technology group Travelport. The IPO was postponed because of recent volatility in markets, but Merlin, which owns the Alton Towers theme park as well as Madame Tussauds, is still expected to be listed eventually because the co.'s management wants an IPO rather than a trade sale, the report said.

Chinese Steel Mills +/- Miners have asked Chinese mills for a provisional 40% rise in iron ore prices and the nation's five largest steelmakers have indicated a willingness to agree to the hike for the 2010-2011 contract year, Platts said in a recent report, citing local media reports. The 40% price increase was discussed with each of the five big Chinese steel mills separately, and an agreement was thought to have been reached with at least one of the producers, a mining executive familiar with the contract talks told Platts exclusively in a meeting earlier this week. He told Platts he was optimistic that Chinese steel producers will agree to the 40% hike within the next few weeks. Chinese steel mills, led by China's largest steelmaker by output, Baosteel Group Corp., negotiate pricing for iron ore on an annual basis with global miners Rio Tinto Ltd. RIO, BHP Billiton Ltd. qBHP and Vale SA qVALE.

Hong Kong Stocks - Hong Kong shares declined early Fri. as investors looked to lock in profits after a three-day advance and ahead of next week's Chinese New Year holidays. Financial and energy stocks broadly retreated in choppy trade, as the Hang Seng Index fell 0.2% to 20,257.81 and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index gave up 0.1% to 11,569.71. HSBC Holdings Plc. qHBC dropped 1.2%, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. SNP lost 1.2% and PetroChina Co. (qPTR fell 0.5%. China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.4%. Hong Kong financial markets are slated to close Mon. and Tues., while mainland Chinese markets are to shut from Mon. through Fri.

SKIL + SkillSoft said that it's agreed to be bought by a private equity consortium for $10.80 a/s in cash, or around $1.1B in total. SKIL said the price is a 26% premium to the average closing price over the year to Feb. 11. Under the terms of the deal, SKIL would be acquired by a new co. formed by funds sponsored by Berkshire Partners, Advent International and Bain Capital Partners. SkillSoft, which provides on-demand e-learning software, said its board of directors has unanimously approved the deal. Shares in SkillSoft closed Thursday at $9.76.

French GDP + France's GDP grew 0.6% in the 4Q of '09 compared to the preceding Q, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, Insee, reported. 3Q GDP growth was revised down to 0.2% from 0.3%. On the whole year, French GDP contracted by 2.2%, the largest drop since World War II, Insee said.

VLKAY + Volkswagen AG said Friday its group deliveries rose 41.3% in Jan. to 538,500 vehicles compared to the same month a year ago. The firm cited its young and environmentally-friendly model range as one of the main reasons for this performance. "The low level of deliveries in the weak month of Jan. '09 was also a contributory factor in the strong rise," VLKAY said. The situation on global car markets remains "tense," but "there are still extremely dynamic markets such as China," the firm said. Volkswagen Passenger Cars, the firm's core brand, sold 359,300 vehicles worldwide in January, up 46.2% from the same month a year ago.

BCS +/- Barclays has decided to spread the impact of a U.K. tax on bonuses across all employees at its investment banking business globally, rather than just staff in London, according to a Reuters report, citing a person familiar with the matter. The one-off 50% tax is paid by the banks themselves on any bonus over 25K pounds ($39K). More details on the bank's bonus levels pay policies will be revealed Tuesday alongside its earnings for 2009, Reuters said. Investment banks have taken different approaches to the tax, with Deutsche Bank qDB sharing the cost globally, while Credit Suisse qCS is putting more of the burden on its U.K. staff.

LA Times

DIS +/- In a move that begins to redraw the way movies are distributed, the Walt Disney Co. plans to release the film "Alice In Wonderland" on DVD only 3 months after it opens in theaters March 5. The decision signals a big shift in strategy for Disney, which until now has resisted tampering with the traditional 4-month period between a movie's theatrical release and its availability in the home. Some theater operators, who worry that pushing up the date of DVD releases will dissuade people from watching movies on the big screen, fear that Disney's action could snowball and become standard industry practice. The CEO of one regional circuit in Knoxville, Tenn., said he would yank "Alice" off screens as soon as it reaches DVD.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-disney12-2010feb12,0,2771995.story

Financial Times

International Monetary Fund +/- International Monetary Fund economists are challenging economic orthodoxy on Friday by suggesting that many pre-crisis policy tools should be redesigned and some sacred cows considered for slaughter. A staff paper co-authored by Olivier Blanchard, IMF chief economist, says the financial and economic crisis has “exposed flaws in the pre-crisis policy framework” and “forces us to think about the architecture of post-crisis macroeconomic policy”. Suggestions include raising inflation targets from about 2% to about 4% so that monetary policy can better respond to shocks; automatic lump-sum payments for poorer families if unemployment rises above certain thresholds; exchange-rate intervention for smaller economies that depend heavily on trade; and giving central banks huge new regulatory tools so they can smooth the path of the economy.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f9f4067e-1758-11df-87f6-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss&nclick_check=1

Dow Jones News Service

CAKE +/- Cheesecake Factory reported a Q4 loss of $13K, compared with year-earlier earnings of $7.1M or $.12 p/s. Excluding the charges, earnings rose to $.28 from $.15. Revenue rose $289K to $400.6M, as same-store sales overall fell 0.9%, with a drop of 0.7% at the namesake chain and a decline of 3.9% at Grand Lux. Analysts polled by TR most recently forecast earnings of $.24 on revenue of $401M.

PNRA + Panera Bread reported a profit of $29.7M or $.95 p/s, compared with $25.5M or $.84 p/s, a year earlier. The co. three weeks ago raised its target to $.94 to $.95. Revenue increased 2.6% to $367M, above the $365.3M analysts had most recently anticipated. Comparable bakery-cafe sales rose 6.4% at franchised locations. In Jan., PNRA said the figure rose 7.4% at co.-owned restaurants on a calendar basis. Overall, comparable bakery-cafe sales rose 6.8%. PNRA opened 22 locations during the quarter, bringing the total to 1380. The co. still plans to open 80 to 90 units this year.