Question

On October 21, 2004, Abitibi-Consolidated Inc., a large Canadian-based newsprint and groundwood producer, reported net income for its third quarter, 2004, of $182 million. This compares with a net loss for the same quarter of 2003 of $70 million. Sales for the quarter were up, to $1528 million, and earnings excluding low persistence items, was a loss of $27 million. the low - persistence items included a gain of $239 million before tax from foreign exchange conversion. Much of the company's long term debt is denominated in US dollars. The foreign exchange gain arose because of the rising value of the Canadian dollar, relative to the US dollar, during the quarter. Comparable figures for the third quarter of 2003 were as follows: sales of $ 1,340 mil-lion, a loss before low- persistence items of $ 32 million, and foreign exchange conversion gain of $ 13 million. There is no mention of R& D costs in the company’s third quarter report. Its 2003 annual report mentions R& D only in passing, with reference to forest conservation. Presumably, R& D expenditures are relatively low. Abitibi- Consolidated’s share price rose $ 0.59 to $ 7.29 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on October 21, 2004. The S& P/ TSX Composite index gained 59 points to close at 8,847 on the same day. According to media reports, the increases were driven by a "red- hot" materials and energy sect

Answer 1

The unexpected earnings is the term used to address the difference between the actual earning of the company for a period as well as the expected earnings for the period. The financial analyst make a mathematical as well as a financial models of the company earnings from the other accounting periods. The unexpected aspect of the earnings also means the price of the stock that can price up of fall dramatically over the course of the day.

Here,

For Q3 2004 2003

Net reported income 82M (70M)

Expected earnings (27M)

Unexpected earnings 55M

Thus we consider the earnings excluding the low persistence items. The low persistence items do not included the sinte there is no continuity or durability of the earnings currently, as they can vary on the large scale.

Also we are given company beta was 0.779 which indicates less volatility. Even though the stock price went up from 0.59 to 0.79, the difference can be considered as the unexpected earnings.

i.e.
`$7.29 - 0.59 =6.7 $` increase per share.