Family business roundup: Headline results

Good results news for Estee Lauder, MasTec, Marriott, McGraw Hill and Loblaw, tough times for Loews and Volkswagen.

Estee Lauder (2 May)
Estee Lauder, the skin care company controlled by the eponymous family, announced 2% sales increases for the third quarter of 2013 to $2.29 billion (€1.7 billion).

But profits rose dramatically to $178.8 million, as the group's restructuring efforts of the past couple of years began to deliver cost savings.

Fabrizio Freda, non-family president and chief executive, said in a statement: "the strength of our strategy and our ability to execute on it continues to produce consistent and reliable results."

MasTec (2 May)
Construction and telecommunications company MasTec saw revenue rise 24% to $919 million in the first quarter of 2013; organic growth was up 19%. The company described the results as "better than expected".

Second-gen chief executive Jose Mas said in a statement: "MasTec had an excellent first quarter. We exceeded all of our estimates for revenue, ebitda, net income and earnings per share."

Marriott (1 May)
International hotel chain Marriott, said its 2013 first-quarter revenues rose 23% to $3.1 billion, compared with the same period in 2012.

The company said the trading period accounted for was 10 day longer than the previous year due to changes in its financial calendar, which contributed an estimated $23 million to the total revenue increase. Net profit in the same period rose 31% to $136 million.

Non-family president and chief executive Arne Sorensen said in a statement: "Our business is highly resilient. Our fist quarter revenue exceeded our expectation."

Loblaw (1 May)
Loblaw, the Weston family's Canadian grocery chain, said 2013's first-quarter revenues increased 3.8% year-on-year to Cad$7.2 billion (€5.4 billion). The company's net-earnings increased 40.1% to Cad$171 million.

Fourth-gen executive chairman Galen Weston Jr said in a statement: "The first quarter showed continued evidence of momentum in our core business."

McGraw Hill Financial (30 April)
Newly slimmed down McGraw Hill, which recently spun of its publishing business, announced revenue increase of 14% to $1.2 billion for the first quarter of 2013.

Fourth-gen chief executive Harold McGraw III said in a statement: "The company is off to a strong start with the revenue and earnings growth we delivered in the first quarter."

Volkswagen (29 April)
Volkswagen, controlled by the Piech and Porsche families, struggled for growth in the first quarter of the year, with revenues falling 1.6% to €46.6 billion, compared with the same period last year, but net profit dropped by 35.2% to €2 billion.

The company blamed continuing economic problems in Europe for the drop, but pointed out that demand for Volkswagen vehicles outperformed the industry as a whole, with its overall share of the worldwide market increasing 0.4% to 12.6%.

Loews (29 April)
Loews – the Tisch family's conglomerate with subsidiaries in construction, minerals, finance and hotels – had a difficult 2013 first quarter, with net profits falling 34.1% year-on-year to $242 million.

The company was hit by $92 million non-cash charges, relating to the on-paper value of one of its mining subsidiaries. Excluding these charges, net profit would have dropped only 15.4%.