Alkermes slashes revenue forecast 30%

Alkermes Inc., a drug developer that repackages medicines for easier use, cut its revenue forecast for the year ending March 31 to $72 million to $80 million, or as much as 30 percent less than an earlier company estimate of up to $115 million. The Cambridge company said it adjusted the forecast based on expected manufacturing revenue and the timing of a partnership related to its Vivitrex drug, which helps cut binge drinking in alcoholic men. Excluding certain charges and costs, the company expects to have a loss for the year of 67 to 78 cents a share. The company last year had a loss of $1.22 a share on $39.1 million in revenue. The company said its third-quarter net loss narrowed to $9 million, or 10 cents a share, in the period ended Dec. 31, from $20.9 million, or 23 cents, a year earlier. Revenue more than doubled to $23.6 million, from $11.2 million. Alkermes was expected to have a loss of 13 cents a share, the average forecast in a Thomson Financial survey. (Bloomberg)

Cable company plans Net phone service

Comcast Corp. will deploy its version of Internet phone service in Greater Boston within six to 12 months, division president Stephen B. Burke said. Burke said Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia will be among the first markets covered. Comcast aims to make the service available to 15 million homes by December and 40 million by the end of 2006. Comcast will charge $40 a month for unlimited domestic ''voice over Internet protocol" service. Unlike services from Vonage Holdings Corp. and others, Comcast's will run on its own networks, rather than the Internet at large, and Comcast will use installers to connect all of a subscriber's home phones, rather than limiting it to one phone plugged into a computer modem. Comcast already sells conventional phone service delivered by cable to over 250,000 Boston-area homes and has offered trial Internet phone service in Springfield since the summer. (Peter J. Howe)

Seachange alters forecast to a loss

Seachange International Inc. lowered its fourth-quarter earnings and revenue estimates because of delays in booking, shipment, or acceptance of certain orders. The Maynard maker of digital video systems said it now expects to record a fourth-quarter loss of 4 to 8 cents a share for the quarter ended Jan. 31, down from the prior estimate of earnings of 10 cents a share. The company also said revenue will now be between $28 million and $30 million, down from the prior estimate of $41 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial estimated the company will report earnings of 10 cents a share on revenue of $41 million. Shares were halted at $16.56 for news, and after trading resumed, they plunged 15 percent in after-hours trading. (Dow Jones)

Super-fast Web access being deployed

Verizon Communications Inc. began selling super-fast Internet access over its new fiber-optic network in West Newbury. It is the first of 26 New England communities where Verizon has confirmed it is installing the so-called FiOS fiber-optic network. Verizon offers a service with 5-megabit-per-second downloads and 2-megabit uploads for $35 a month, 15 down and 2 up for $45, and 30 down and 5 up for $180, all prices based on a bundle with phone service. The services are up to six times faster than cable modems. Verizon would not say where it will next begin offering service or when. Verizon is installing FiOS in 19 other Boston suburbs including Newton and Woburn and will start using the network to sell cable television this year. (Peter J. Howe)

Maine blueberry crop worst in 13 years

Poor weather last spring produced the wild blueberry crop agricultural industry analysts were expecting: the worst in 13 years. The New England Agricultural Statistics Service reported that Maine blueberry farmers harvested 46 million pounds in 2004, with 45.7 million pounds going to processors and 300,000 pounds being sold fresh. The last time Maine had a smaller crop was when the 1991 crop totaled 39.5 million pounds. The low crop yield is attributed to extensive winter damage and a disease problem, according to Dell Emerson, farm manager for the Blueberry Hill Experimental Station in Jonesboro, Maine. (AP)

THE NATION
Crude oil futures drop after report

Oil futures fell as traders focused on rising temperatures in the Northeast and after the US government reported a smaller-than-expected decline in natural gas inventories. Light sweet crude for March delivery fell 24 cents to $46.45 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where natural gas futures dropped 22.7 cents to $6.149 per 1,000 cubic feet. Heating oil fell 2.05 cents to $1.2765 per gallon and gasoline declined 2.51 to $1.2684 per gallon. The Energy Department's latest natural gas storage report showed inventories falling last week by 188 billion cubic feet to 2.082 trillion cubic feet. Analysts had expected a draw of more than 200 billion cubic feet. ''The future price of oil might be completely dependent on whether or not we have six more weeks of winter weather or will we have an early spring," said Phil Flynn, an analyst with Chicago's Alaron Futures and Options. Qatar's oil minister said OPEC is ready to cut its crude supplies quickly if there is a buildup of oil inventories during the second quarter. (AP)

Witness says he was asked to stay mum

Former Tyco International Ltd. director Frank Walsh told jurors that L. Dennis Kozlowski, on trial for fraud, asked him not to tell other board members about a $20 million finder's fee Walsh got for helping to arrange an acquisition. Prosecutors have accused Kozlowski, a former Tyco chief executive, and ex-finance chief Mark Swartz of paying Walsh without the board's approval. The charge is among the 31 counts of grand larceny, conspiracy, and securities fraud the two men are facing for a second time after a mistrial in April. Walsh said he and Kozlowski met in July 2001 to discuss how much Walsh would be paid for helping to bring about Tyco's $9.2 billion purchase of CIT Group Inc. ''He indicated he would prefer to keep the matter between the three of us, Mark, Dennis, and myself," Walsh testified. (Bloomberg)

Napster to kick off $30m ad campaign

Napster Inc., the Internet music company, will spend $30 million to promote a monthly subscription service that lets customers download an unlimited number of songs from an online catalog. Napster will begin an ad campaign for the Napster To Go service during the Feb. 6 broadcast of the Super Bowl, the company said. The service will compete with Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes site and with Microsoft Corp.'s MSN online store, which each charge 99 cents a song. Napster customers will pay $14.95 a month to download songs from its catalog of more than a million songs. The marketing campaign will feature digital music players from Dell Inc., Creative Technology Ltd., and iriver America, a unit of South Korea's Reigncom Co. Subscribers will be able to download an unlimited number of songs each month. (Bloomberg)

Buffett's annual reports win writing prize

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, long lauded for his stock-picking acumen, is being honored for his writing skills. The National Commission on Writing for America's Families, Schools, and Colleges is honoring Buffett's folksy and easy-to-understand annual report on Berkshire Hathaway Inc. as a major contribution to the art and craft of writing. ''No annual report has had a greater impact on American business," said Bob Kerrey, the commission's chairman and a former Democratic senator from Nebraska. Buffett says he writes his annual report as though he were explaining Berkshire to a sister who has been away a long time. (AP)