Big Lots (NYSE:BIG) cuts its earnings forecast for the year as it reported a 6% drop in fiscal first-quarter profit. The group said profit for the quarter ended April 30 fell to $52.5 million from $55.9 million a year earlier as sales fell 0.6% to $1.23 billion. Earnings per share edged up to 70 cents from 68 cents a year earlier due to a reduction in the number of shares outstanding. Analysts polled by FactSet research had been expecting earnings of 69 cents a share on sales of $1.22 billion. The group said that earnings from continuing operations in the fiscal second quarter are expected to be between 38 cents and 48 cents a share. -MarketWatch
McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) expects food costs to rise between 4% and 4.5% in the United States and Europe this year, a situation that would put pressure on the company’s profit margins. McDonald’s is the market leader in the fast food business, with about a 19% share. In its primary operations, it competes with Wendy’s, Subway, Burger King, and Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM), and, in its recent move into the specialty coffee market, it’s going up against Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX).-Daily Finance
More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, a sign the labor market is struggling to gain momentum. Jobless claims increased by 10,000 to 424,000 in the week ended May 21, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey called for a drop to 404,000. The economy grew less than forecast in the first quarter, a separate report showed. -Bloomberg
Ratings agency Moody’s cut Bahrain’s Thursday sovereign bond rating by one notch to Baa1, from A3, with a negative outlook, citing a significant deterioration in Arab country’s political environment. -The Wall Street Journal
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