n">(Reuters) - Winnebago Industries Inc (WGO.N), the largest U.S. motor home maker, said it plans to increase its production in the current quarter to meet the high demand that also helped it report stronger-than-expected first-quarter results.

Shares of the company were up 13 percent at $15.95 at noon on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. The stock rose to a year-high of $16.22 earlier.

The company said its motorhome order backlog had more than tripled from a year earlier to 2,118 units as of December 1.

"We have continued to increase our production schedule and have hired additional employees to meet this improved demand during the last two fiscal quarters," Chief Executive Randy Potts said in a statement on Thursday.

Order backlog, which the company defines as orders to be shipped within the next six months, grew for both low- and high-end products, Potts said on a conference call.

Growth in motorhome revenue was on strong demand for the company's new entry-level Class A gasoline offerings, Chief Financial Officer Sarah Nielsen said during the call.

The company's Class A models are conventional motor homes constructed directly on medium- and heavy-duty truck chassis.

Winnebago introduced low-priced models after the recession reduced demand for higher-end motorhomes costing up to $350,000.

Net income rose to $7.4 million, or 26 cents per share, from $1 million, or 4 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 47 percent to $193.6 million. (link.reuters.com/xav74t0)

Analysts on average had expected earnings of 10 cents per share on revenue of $155.3 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Ted Kerr)

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The logo of ArcelorMittal company is seen at the entrance of its headquarters in Luxembourg in this picture taken on November 20, 2012.

BRUSSELS | Fri Dec 21, 2012 8:09am EST

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal (ISPA.AS), the world's biggest steelmaker, is to write down the value of its European business by $4.3 billion, underscoring gloom about prospects for the region's recession-hit manufacturers.

The group, formed in 2006 when India-born Lakshmi Mittal's steel business bought European peer Arcelor for $33 billion, said on Friday demand had fallen about 8 percent in Europe this year and there was no sign of a quick recovery.

As a result, it will write down the goodwill - the value of intangible assets such as brands rather than physical assets such as machinery - of its European operations by 87 percent.

"It is negative, but it should not really be a big surprise that the book value of its European business was too high," said a London-based analyst who asked not to be named.

ArcelorMittal shares were down 2.7 percent at 12.85 euros at 8 a.m. ET, one of the biggest falls by a European blue-chip stock .FTEU3 and reversing gains made earlier this week.

Credit agency Fitch cut ArcelorMittal's long-term issuer default rating to BB+, just below investment grade, due to the challenging outlook for Western European steel markets in 2013.

The $500-billion-a-year steel industry, a gauge of the global economy, has slowed sharply this year as a moderation in China's economic growth has compounded weak demand from austerity-ravaged Europe.

The World Steel Association in October forecast steel demand would rise 2.1 percent in 2012, down from 6.2 percent in 2011. It had forecast 3.6 percent growth in April.

Last month, Moody's cut the company's senior unsecured notes to Ba1 from Baa3, joining Standard & Poor's in rating ArcelorMittal one notch below investment grade.

Other steelmakers are hurting too. Earlier this month, Germany group ThyssenKrupp (TKAG.DE) posted a full-year net loss of 4.7 billion euros ($6.2 billion).

WEAK POINT

Europe is a particular weak point, as austerity drives aimed at tackling a sovereign debt crisis have cut demand for cars and construction - steel's largest markets. Euro zone manufacturing has contracted for 17 straight months.

ArcelorMittal, which makes about 6-7 percent of the world's steel, said demand in Europe had fallen 29 percent since 2007 when the financial crisis started.

It highlighted better trends in the United States where, it said, demand was up 8 percent this year and is now 10 percent lower than in 2007.

ArcelorMittal, whose output is more than double that of its nearest rival, has already announced the closure of blast furnaces in Belgium and France, with other operations temporarily idled due to overcapacity.

The write-down represents over a third of ArcelorMittal's overall goodwill of $12.5 billion as of end-2012. The group, around 40-percent owned by the Mittal family, took on $6.6 billion goodwill when it bought Arcelor.

It said the write-down would be a non-cash charge in fourth-quarter results and would not affect net debt or core profit.

Before the write-down, analysts had, on average, forecast the group would make $529.5 million net profit this year, and $7.1 billion core profit, according to StarMine.

(Additional reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Mark Potter and Dan Lalor)

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n">(Reuters) - Shares of Herbalife (HLF.N) plunged again Friday, feeling the brunt of heavy selling in a week where prominent short-seller Bill Ackman called the company a "pyramid scheme."

The stock closed 19 percent down at $27.27, its lowest in nearly two years.

The selling continues a bad run for the stock, which has been hit hard in recent days as Ackman said he was shorting the stock, giving a three-hour presentation Thursday where he called the weight management company's model unsustainable.

Pershing Square Capital Management said on Friday it had launched a website that provides information about the company, including source data that was used in the presentation.

Shares have fallen 36 percent in the last three days and have lost nearly two-thirds of their value since hitting a life-high in April.

Ackman, known for agitating for management change at companies his fund invests in, has targeted Herbalife via one of his biggest short positions in years.

Ackman said he had been building his short position in the company's stock for several months and that he was so sure of his position that he believed the company's stock price would eventually go to zero.

More than 42.2 million Herbalife shares had changed hands on Friday, far surpassing the 2.8 million shares traded on average over the past 50 days.

Similar stocks in the space were also down. Nu Skin Enterprises Inc (NUS.N), a skin products company, closed 14 percent lower at $34.51. Blyth Inc (BTH.N), which sells nutritional supplements through its ViSalus unit, closed down 8 percent at $14.75.

Herbalife said on Friday it would hold an analyst day in the week of January 7 to respond to Ackman's claims.

Option volume on Herbalife hit an all-time high on Friday, a day that also marks the expiration of December equity options. Herbalife traders exchanged 136,000 puts and 85,000 calls, or 11 times the combined daily average, according to options analytics firm Trade Alert.

Out of that volume, 41 percent were December contracts that expire after market close. The most popular contracts are the December $27.50 strike put followed by the May $22.50 strike put.

(Reporting By David Gaffen, Doris Frankel and Maria Ajit Thomas; Editing by M.D. Golan and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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FRANKFURT | Fri Dec 21, 2012 8:01am EST

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Shares in SMA Solar (S92G.DE), Germany's top solar company, rose on Friday after an acquisition gave it access to China, seen as overtaking Germany next year as the world's No.1 solar market.

SMA Solar late on Thursday announced the acquisition of a 72.5 percent stake in Jiangsu Zeversolar, a move that drove its shares up as much as 7.6 percent on Friday. At 7:39 a.m. ET, they were still up 3 percent.

"SMA Solar so far had no access to the Chinese market. Thus, the acquisition makes clear strategic sense," said a trader.

Plunging subsidies for solar power in Europe have driven the local solar industry to the brink of collapse, forcing many players to file for insolvency or look for growth in foreign markets to remain profitable.

China, however, has been a tough nut to crack, usually favoring local suppliers. In addition, Western solar firms have alleged price dumping by Chinese peers, triggering a trade war that reached the WTO last month.

China is spending 13 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) on its solar industry this year and, said SMA Solar Chief Executive Pierre-Pascal Urbon, is expected to install 2-3 gigawatts (GW) of solar power this year, a figure which could soar to 8 GW next year.

"We hope for very strong growth in sales next year," Urbon told Reuters on Friday.

He added Zeversolar's sales for 2012 would remain largely stable compared with the 30 million euros ($40 million) generated in 2011. SMA aims for sales of 1.3-1.5 billion euros this year.

Urbon said SMA had an option to secure the remaining stake in Zeversolar, which is expected to generate positive earnings per share (EPS) from 2014, but added the group currently had no plans to do so.

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Mike Nesbit)

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Fri Dec 21, 2012 12:24pm EST

n">(Reuters) - Walgreen Co (WAG.N) posted an unexpected decline in quarterly profit on Friday as the largest U.S. drugstore chain worked on winning back former customers and changed how it accounts for its first international acquisition.

The company stands to get a bit of a sales lift in the current quarter as a strong flu season brings shoppers in for flu shots and medications.

Walgreen lost millions of customers due to a contract dispute with pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX.O) and is trying to lure them back with offers such as $25 gift cards. It is seeing an increasing pace of Express Scripts patients returning to its stores.

Earnings in the latest quarter were hurt by a decision to report results from Walgreen's stake in Europe's Alliance Boots Holding Ltd ABN.UL on a one-quarter lag rather than a one-month lag. The decision was based on regulatory, audit and business concerns, the company said.

Shares of Walgreen, which has 8,000 U.S. drugstores, fell 3.75 percent to $36.14 in midday trading.

"It was messy," Gabelli & Co research analyst Jeff Jonas said of the quarterly results, noting they included items such as the change in reporting results from Alliance Boots as well as a charge for costs stemming from Hurricane Sandy.

"If you give them credit for everything, it was actually a good quarter," he said.

FLU UP, PROFIT DOWN

The Centers For Disease Control is projecting the worst flu season in 10 years, and Walgreen has seen strong demand for flu shots and other immunizations continue into December, Chief Executive Greg Wasson said.

Through the end of its fiscal first quarter on November 30, Walgreen had given more than 5 million flu shots, up from a year earlier. It has also seen sales of cough and cold medications pick up.

A strong flu season should help the industry in December and likely for the next couple of months, said Jonas.

Walgreen earned $413 million, or 43 cents per share, in the first quarter, down from $554 million, or 63 cents per share, a year earlier.

Earnings before unusual items fell to 58 cents per share from 71 cents a year earlier, missing analysts' average forecast of 70 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Unusual items in the latest quarter included costs related to acquisitions, an inventory provision, and the effects of Hurricane Sandy.

Results from Alliance Boots cut adjusted earnings per share by 7 cents, rather than adding 3 cents as was expected if results had been reported using a one-month lag.

Walgreen paid $7 billion in cash and stock for a 45 percent stake in the European pharmacy operator in August and has an option to buy the rest of the company in about three years.

Walgreen's first-quarter sales fell 4.6 percent to $17.32 billion, with sales at stores open at least a year, or same-store sales, down 8 percent.

The sales performance was slightly worse than Walgreen reported earlier this month. At that time, it said sales fell 4.5 percent to $17.34 billion and same-store sales declined 7.7 percent.

Since settling its dispute with Express Scripts, Walgreen has stepped up its marketing to bring back Express Scripts patients and also has been promoting a new loyalty card, signing up more than 45 million shoppers in a few months.

Rivals CVS Caremark Corp (CVS.N) and Rite Aid Corp (RAD.N) are trying to hold onto the customers they gained when Walgreen lost its Express Scripts patients.

On December 13, CVS said it still expected to retain at least 60 percent of the Walgreen patrons that switched to its chain, which should boost CVS' fourth-quarter earnings by at least 12.5 cents per share.

On Thursday, Rite Aid said it has retained "the lion's share" of patients it gained during the dispute.

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and John Wallace)

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A logo of the Blackberry maker's Research in Motion is seen on a building at the RIM Technology Park in Waterloo April 18, 2012.

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