Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Connecticut Big Corp Profits on Fire in 2010

I found 19 Big Corps based in Connecticut. I am defining these Big Corps as ones that had more than $200 mil in Core Pretax Earnings or Losses in either of the most recent two years: 2010 and 2009.

One Giant Corp dominates the Connecticut-based Big Corp Earnings landscape. Global Conglomerate GE, which has a Major Finance Segment, posted Pretax Earnings in 2010 of $14.2 bil, which surged by a massive 42% over 2009.

GE's 2010 earnings were precisely 75% of the Total Core Pretax Earnings of the remaining 18 Connecticut Big Corps.

So how did these other 18 Connecticut Big Corps do in 2010?

Well, in the aggregate, they performed even better than GE.

Their Total Core Pretax Earnings in 2010 were $19.0 bil, up an incredibly high 55% over 2009.

Below here are the individual current earnings for these Connecticut 19 largest publicly-held Corps, as was disclosed in either their most recent annual Fiscal Year Ended (FYE) 2010 earnings releases or in their most recent SEC annual report filings. All of them have December year ends.

Connecticut 19 Largest Publicly-Held Corps Most Recent Annual Pretax Earnings (PTI)

.................................................................................Increase...
...................................................PTI(L)....PTI(L)....(Decrease)...
CT Big Corp..................................2010......2009.....Amount....%.
..............................................(millions of dollars)......

CT Giant That Rules
...GE..........................................14,208......9,995......4,213....42%

Rest of CT Big Corps(18)
United Technologies...................6,538.....5,760.........778....14%
Aetna..........................................2,644.....1,901.........743....39%
Hartford Financial Services(1).....2,417...(1,728).....4,145...240%
Praxair(2)...................................1,964.....1,724.........240....14%
Xerox............................................893........668.........225....34%
Priceline.com................................746........442.........304....69%
Amphenol.....................................664........447.........217....49%
WR Berkley...................................603........382..........221....58%
Pitney Bowes.................................535........693........(158)..(23)%
Odyssey Re Holdings.....................431........494..........(63)..(13)%
Interactive Brokers Group.............341........544........(203)..(37)%
Hubbell.........................................320........262...........58.....22%
Frontier Communications(3).........271........239...........32.....13%
Stanley Black & Decker(4)..............237........239..........(2)....(1)%
Silgan Holdings..............................222........248.........(26)..(10)%
Emcor Group(5)............................216.........259.........(43)..(17)%
Crane.............................................211........185...........26.....14%
Terex Corp..................................(238)......(524)........286.....55%

Rest of CT Big Corps(18)...........19,015.....12,235.....6,780....55%

All 19 CT Big Corps..................33,223.....22,230....10,993....49%

(1) Hartford Financial Services 2010 PTI excludes Goodwill Impairment Charge.
(2) Praxair 2009 PTI excludes Brazil Tax Amnesty Charge.
(3) Frontier Communications 2009 PTI excludes Loss on Debt Extinguishment.
(4) Stanley Black & Decker 2009 PTI excludes Gain on Debt Extinguishment.
(5) Emcor Group 2010 PTI excludes Intangible Asset Impairment Charge.

Connecticut's 7.5% State Corporate Income Tax Rate is pretty much smack dab in the middle of all US States. However, the actual State Corporate Income Tax Rate paid by Connecticut's Big Corps is only 1.40%, the second lowest of all larger US States, second only to Indiana's 1.28% actual State Corporate Income Tax Rate paid by its Big Corps.

I do think that the Obama Administration's Business Energy Tax Credit Proposals for both Renewable Energy Investments and for Commercial Building Retrofit Green Investments would be very beneficial to the economy of all States, but especially so to those close to the Metro New York area. And I also think that just like New Jersey-based Honeywell, Connecticut-based GE could be one of the key players in helping the country get more intensely focused on what should be its critical energy independence path.

The above research, where I found 19 Connecticut Big Corps, was performed through the end of March 2011. Since then, in April and May 2011, I extended this research, and I found 2 additional Connecticut Big Corps, which are shown here below.

..........................................2010.......2009.........Increase
...........................................Core........Core........(Decrease)
.......State..........................PTI(L)......PTI(L).....Amount.....%
..............................................(millions of dollars)....
Late Big Corp Additions

Connecticut (2)
ING Life Insur&Annuity.....578...........404..........174......43%
FactSet Research..CT........222...........212............10.........5%