Marks fourth consecutive quarter of negative earnings growth
Second quarter 2008 operating earnings for the biggest publicly traded companies declined 29% compared with the same period last year, according to figures from Standard & Poor's.
The decline marked the fourth consecutive quarter of negative earnings growth for the S&P 500.
Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P, said: ‘The shift in earnings continues with Energy contributing 25.1% of the S&P 500's operating earnings during the second quarter, up from 16.4% a year ago.’
‘Conversely, Financials have now posted their third consecutive quarter of negative earnings after accounting for 28.4% of operating earnings this time last year,’ he added.
Reported earnings fell to $116.2bn (versus $194.3bn in Q2 2007).
