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April 30, 2008

Company faces $29,000 fine for fatal accident

A company that handles freight in Worcester faces a nearly $29,000 fine after a fatal industrial accident.

Paul Harding of Spencer was killed in December when a large tire blew out on a crane he was working on. The blast sent the Intransit Container employee several feet into the air.

The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration last week alleged six safety violations in connection with the death. Among them: failing to adequately train workers and failing to ensure that tires are deflated before they are removed from vehicles.

The agency proposed fines totaling $28,825, and gave Intransit Container 15 days to indicate whether it will contest the citation.

The company’s president, Stephen Cotrone, did not immediately respond to a phone message today.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:30 PM | Comments (0)

State far outpacing US economy, report says

The Massachusetts economy, buoyed by the technology sector, grew about five times faster than the nation's in the first three months of the year, the University of Massachusetts reported.

The state's economy expanded at 3.2 percent annual rate in the first quarter, UMass said, while the US economy grew only slightly -- at a 0.6 percent annual rate, according to the Commerce Department.

Massachusetts, after lagging behind the US through the economic recovery of the past few years, is weathering the recent national downturn because of the strength of its technology, science and healthcare sectors, according to UMass. State exports of technology and pharmaceutical products are strong and so is hiring in those sectors. Employment in professional, scientific and technical services, for example, grew nearly 4 percent over the past year, compared to less than 1 percent for the state as a whole, according to the state Department of Workforce Development.

Meanwhile, the state has been spared the worst of the housing collapse and mortgage industry meltdown because it did not experience the same level of speculative building as other parts of the country, such as California, Florida and Nevada. As a result, the state added 4,600 jobs in the first three months of the year even as the nation shed more than 200,000 payroll jobs.

"The technology part of our economy is offsetting the housing market,'' said Michael Goodman, director of economic and public policy research at the UMass Donahue Institute.

Nonetheless, consumers are struggling, UMass analysts said. Falling home values combined with rising food and fuel costs are hurting confidence and spending. Consumer sectors, such as retail, are losing jobs. Retail employment has declined about 1 percent over the last year, according to state figures.

And continued weakness in housing and consumer spending will slow the state's economic growth to an annual rate of about 2.5 percent over the next six months, according to UMass. At that rate of expansion, employment growth is likely to stall or decline, said Alan Clayton-Matthews, the UMass-Boston professor who calculates the state economic growth rates.
(By Robert T. Gavin, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:12 PM | Comments (0)

MicroFinancial declares quarterly dividend

MicroFinancial Inc. said its board approved a quarterly cash dividend of 5 cents per share.

The financial services company said the dividend is payable May 15 to shareholders of record as of May 5. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)

State Street Corp. on track says chief

State Street Corp. chief executive Ronald Logue said the company is on track to reach long-term goals such as growing its foreign operations to 50 percent of total revenue.

Speaking at the Boston trust bank's annual meeting this morning high in its downtown skyscraper, Logue did not directly address some of the concerns stemming from the credit crisis that have led to charges and held back the company's share price this year. Among other things investors have been concerned with potential losses in four State Street investment vehicles that hold assets like mortgages and student loans.

But Logue cited other measures by which he said the company's strategy is in order, such as growing its Global Advisors investment unit, which has a higher profit margin than its traditional services lines, and increasing earnings and revenue each year.

"Consistency, consistency, consistency, that's where the market will reward us,'' he said. He also noted the company's increased attention to controls, such as the naming earlier this month of a new chief risk officer, Maureen Miskovic, previously a company director.

Several shareholder proposals failed to pass at the meeting by margins the company did not immediately release, including one that would given shareholders the chance to vote on compensation of top executives.
(By Ross Kerber, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)

Tizra signs up MIT Press

MIT Press has signed an agreement with Tizra, Inc., to use the company's recently launched Agile PDF software platform to create a website that will enable users to find, buy and view online versions of books published by the press.

The site, which will carry MIT Press branding, is scheduled to go live next month with books from the press's Computer Science and related collections.

The service represents the first time the MIT Press has sold online versions of its computer and information science books.

"Tizra offered us a very attractive way to build on our own brand, and to create new online products that play to the particular strengths of our publishing program," said Gita Manaktala, Marketing Director at the press. "Like other publishers, we are still learning the best ways to distribute our books online, so it's imperative that we work with technology that will let us respond and adapt quickly."

Posted by globebusiness at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)

Bank of America expands free museum program

From the Globe-trotting blog...

We like deals. Like 'em a lot. Bank of America has been running its Museums on Us program in May -- which is National Museum Month, for those of you keeping track -- a few years now. Bank customers got free admission to a bunch of museums by showing a check or credit or ATM card. First it was just regional and later it was expanded to the Northeast.

B of A now has decided to take it nationwide and change it from the month of May to the first weekend of every month (like this weekend, say). What does this mean? Well, besides museums like the MFA and DeCordova and others around here, you could hit the Met in New York, or perhaps the DeYoung in San Francisco. Ever been to the Art Institute of Chicago or the Houston Museum of Natural Science? You get the idea. There's a museum locator on the website.

Besides the B of A deal, Baskin Robbins -- they of the 31 flavors back in the day -- are offering a 31-cent scoop night (from 5-10) at all 2,700 locations nationwide as a benefit for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. So we're talking three scoops for less than a buck. And you get to help Jakes. Here's the store locator.
(By Paul Makishima, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)

R.I. lawmakers increase gambling hours

State lawmakers desperate to fix a massive budget deficit voted Tuesday to allow Rhode Island's two slot parlors to operate around-the-clock on weekends and holidays, a step that could raise more money for the state.

The proposal would also allow Twin River in Lincoln and Newport Grand to close as late as 3 a.m. on weekdays.

Identical bills passed 27-6 in the Senate and 51-19 in the House. The separate House and Senate bills must be approved by the opposite side of the legislature before they go to the governor.

Rhode Island faces its worst financial problem since it bailed out failed banks and credit unions in the early 1990s, with a sluggish economy and a $568 million budget deficit.

Earlier this year, officials at Twin River estimated the extra gambling hours could raise an additional $11.8 million for the state. The state already depends on video slot machines to provide about 8 percent of state income.

But the proposals have critics, particularly among Republicans and people who live near the slot parlors. In a nonbinding referendum in November, Lincoln residents rejected longer gambling hours at Twin River and also opposed turning the slot parlor into a traditional casino offering card and table games.

Newport Mayor Stephen Waluk told lawmakers in February that the state should find other ways to fix its budget problems.

During the debate, lawmakers opposed to 24-hour gambling tried unsuccessfully to raise the state's legal gambling age from 18 to 21 and denounced video slot machines as a tax on the poor. Several said that permitting around-the-clock gambling brings Rhode Island closer to creating a full-fledged casino, an idea voters rejected in 2006.

"We had a debate about what ages we're going to allow pockets to be picked," said Rep. Nicholas Gorham, a Republican gambling opponent. "When can you start having your pocket picked so that we can get more money to the state?"

Republican Gov. Don Carcieri will not support expanded gambling if residents in Lincoln and Newport are against it, Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said Tuesday. Neal would not comment on whether Carcieri would veto the bill. Last week, Carcieri told Rep. Robert Watson, the Republican minority leader, that he would veto, Watson said. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)

InfraReDx device gets FDA nod

U.S. regulators approved the first device that lets doctors see fat buildup inside coronary arteries to gauge heart attack risk.

The LipiScan NIR Catheter Imaging System uses infrared technology to identify when artery-clogging plaque has a large fatty core, a characteristic that has been linked to ruptures and blood clots, according to a statement posted today on the Food and Drug Administration's Web site. The device is made by closely held InfraReDx Inc., of Burlington, Massachusetts.

Almost 1 million Americans have heart attacks each year and about half die, the FDA said. Many heart attacks are caused by ruptures in the fatty calcium and other substances that stick to artery walls, making it hard for blood to pass.

The LipiScan device works by inserting a fiber-optic laser into the artery, shining light through the blood to the artery wall and measuring the wavelengths that are reflected back, the FDA said.
(Bloomberg)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)

LoJack earnings hurt by slumping auto sales

LoJack Corporation reported today that revenue for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008 declined 15% to $46.1 million, from $54.1 million in the same period a year ago.

Net income was $1.0 million for the first quarter, compared to $6.1 million for the same period a year ago, and earnings per fully diluted share were $0.05, compared to $0.32 in the same quarter a year ago.

In announcing the results, Richard T. Riley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, "As we reviewed on April 2, our financial performance in the first quarter was directly affected by the continued domestic economic challenges, which have severely impacted the automotive industry, and by the timing of orders from our international licensees."

Domestic revenue in the first quarter declined 19% to $31.0 million from $38.3 million in the prior year, due to a 19% decline in unit volume.

"While all of our major geographic regions were impacted by the decline in domestic auto sales," Riley said, "unit volume declines were most acute in our western region. The automotive market in southern California continues to struggle. Since we are highly penetrated in southern California, our domestic auto unit volume declined at a pace that was disproportionately high, relative to the national trend of declining auto sales for the quarter... We continue to expect a decline in domestic auto sales for the year and, as a result, believe that our domestic unit sales volume will continue to be negatively impacted throughout the remainder of 2008."

International revenue in the first quarter also declined to $10.3 million, from $11.2 million in the prior year, reflecting a 10% decline in unit volume.

Posted by globebusiness at 8:49 AM | Comments (0)

Solidworks product wins magazine award

The latest version of the SolidWorks Corporation's 3D CAD software, SolidWorks 2008, has won a 2007 NASA Tech Briefs Readers' Choice Product of the Year Award..

Each month, NASA Tech Briefs names a product of the month. SolidWorks 2008, launched in June 2007, was the product of the month for July 2007. The magazine's 190,000-plus readers selected SolidWorks 2008 from a dozen products of the month from 2007. Readers cast their votes for the product they thought was the most significant new product introduced to the engineering community in 2007.

Posted by globebusiness at 8:45 AM | Comments (0)

UMassOnline logs second record year

UMassOnline, the online learning division of the University of Massachusetts, today announced a second consecutive fiscal year of record-breaking enrollment and revenue results. Matching last year's results, which were the best in three years, fiscal year 2008 at UMassOnline saw a 26.2% increase in enrollments, to 33,900 over 26,855 in fiscal year 2007, and a 31.9% increase in revenue to $36,977,854 over fiscal year 2007 revenues of $28,030,985.

According to the Sloan Consortium's most recent research report entitled 'Online Nation: Five Years of Growth in Online Learning,' online enrollments nationwide were growing by 9.7% as of the Fall, 2006 semester, while the growth rate in the overall higher education student population was 1.5%. In contrast UMassOnline's enrollment in fiscal year 2008 grew two and a half times faster than the national average for online enrollments.

UMassOnline CEO David Gray attributes the sustained growth, in part, to developments throughout the fiscal year that saw UMassOnline, introduce new "blended learning" innovations for online learners.

The first blended learning offering, announced in June, 2007, featured the Graduate Program in Health Management and Policy via UMass Lowell. In November, 2007, UMassOnline launched the nation's first fully online Master of Public Health in Nutrition via UMass Amherst. Later that same month, ten new blended learning programs were announced representing all five campuses in the University of Massachusetts system.

These included a BA in Health and Human Services and Doctor of Nursing Practice from UMass Amherst; Expansion of RN to BS and Post Master's Nurse Practitioner Certificate program from UMass Boston; B.A. in Liberal Arts Degree Completion program and business programs from UMass Dartmouth; Health Management and Policy Master's program with Certificates in Health Informatics, Health Management, and Health Policy from UMass Lowell; and Nurse Educator Post-Master's Certificate program and OBGYN Professional Development Training for Clinical Issues from UMass Worcester Graduate School of Nursing.

In January of this year, three more online study concentrations were announced. These new programs included a collaborative focus in Arts Administration - the first and only program of its kind in the nation - as well as within the rapidly changing fields of Journalism Studies and Health and Human Services. Earlier this month, UMassOnline announced a partnership agreement with two major organizations in China which puts UMassOnline on a path to receive Chinese Ministry of Education approval for a significant number and diversity of accredited online programs in China and serve as the distance learning model for future approvals.

Posted by globebusiness at 8:31 AM | Comments (0)

3Com names new top executive

Edgar Masri was removed as chief executive of data network equipment maker 3Com Inc. on Tuesday and immediately replaced by Robert Mao, a fluent Mandarin speaker who will be based in China, which the Massachusetts-based company sees as its biggest market.

The management shuffle -- which comes a month after a proposed $2.2 billion buyout of 3Com was scuttled because of concern over a Chinese company's role -- also brings in Ronald Sege to the new position of chief operating officer and as president of the company, effective Wednesday.

Eric Benhamou will remain chairman of 3Com's board, company spokesman Kevin Flanagan said.

Mao, 64, who became 3Com's executive vice president for corporate development in August 2006, left seven months later, though he retained a spot on 3Com's board.

"It was a decision by the board of directors to make a change in the senior executive area, and essentially they decided to replace Edgar Masri with Bob Mao as our CEO, with Ronald Sege as our president and COO," Flanagan said.

Mao, who has worked in China for Nortel Networks, will oversee 4,000 employees in China, a growing market for 3Com's switches, routers and other gear to help data networks run efficiently.

"We've got the majority of our employees in China, and a very large piece of our revenue," Flanagan said.

Sege, 51, most recently president and CEO of Tropos Networks Inc., a wireless broadband network provider, will focus on 3Com's operations outside China. He'll work from company headquarters in the Boston suburb of Marlborough, home to about 400 of the company's global work force of about 6,000.

The management changes were announced after trading closed, with shares of 3Com up 4 cents at $2.34.

Masri, who was president and CEO from August 2006 until Tuesday, announced a proposal in September for Boston-based private equity firm Bain Capital Partners to lead a buyout of 3Com. He said the deal would help 3Com gain freedom from the whims of the market and improve its chances of expanding in China.

The deal would have given Huawei Technologies, China's largest manufacturer of telecommunication equipment, a minority stake in 3Com -- a prospect that raised the ire of U.S. lawmakers afraid that sensitive military technology would be transferred to China.

3Com's stock rose 34 percent the day the deal was announced but declined after the concerns arose, and Bain and 3Com failed to agree on ways to restructure the deal to address lawmakers' fears.

Bain cited the national security issues in announcing last month that it was giving up on the deal.

3Com's Flanagan said Masri's ouster had "absolutely nothing to do with" the failed buyout.

3Com, facing competition from Cisco Systems Inc. and others, is a shadow of the high-flyer it became during the tech boom. In 2000, its shares briefly rose above $100.

Co-founder Robert Metcalfe helped invent ethernet in the 1970s to link computers, a business that boosted 3Com throughout the 1980s and 1990s, when it made a series of acquisitions. Among them was the 1997 purchase of dial-up modem maker U.S. Robotics, which also included Palm Inc., the personal digital assistant maker.

From 1995 to 2001, San Francisco's football stadium was renamed 3Com Park.

3Com spun off U.S. Robotics in 2000, and 3Com's core networking business fell off after the dot.com bubble burst in 2001. The company left its Silicon Valley headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif. for Marlborough in 2003, and its stock has languished around the $5 mark in recent years.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:55 AM | Comments (0)

April 29, 2008

Mayor backs $4m plan to keep JPMorgan in Boston

Boston officials today unveiled a $4 million tax-incentive package to convince JPMorgan Chase & Co. to remain in Boston.

The financial firm employs 725 people in the city (525 at 73 Tremont St. and 200 at One Beacon) and is considering adding up to 400 more who would provide services to the mutual funds industry. But its lease at 73 Tremont with Suffolk University is due to end next year.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said the incentives -- certain city property tax benefits, plus state tax and financing benefits -- are designed to convince JPMorgan to move workers into vacant space on the South Boston Waterfront he did not identify.

‘‘Financial services companies represent a $24 billion industry in Boston, and I’ve made it a priority that we focus on ways to strengthen and grow this sector of our economy,’’ he said.

Dan Kramer, JPMorgan’s managing director for fund services operations, said the firm is in negotiations about the site and several others in the suburbs. If the Boston incentives are approved by the City Council, they would be ‘‘a key determinant in our decision as we negotiate the terms of the lease,’’ Kramer said.
(By Ross Kerber, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:58 PM | Comments (0)

Wyeth cutting 1,200 jobs, including some in Mass.

Pharmaceuticals giant Wyeth, which has operations in Andover and Cambridge, said it plans to eliminate 1,200 jobs, or 2 percent of its worldwide workforce. That is in addition to 1,200 sales jobs the company eliminated last month.

Company spokesman Doug Petkus said the latest job reductions will “affect all facilities worldwide” and “cut across a variety of job types.” Petkus declined to say how many workers would be affected in Massachusetts, but the company started to notify employees last Friday.

Petkus said the company is making the cuts to reduce expenses in response to declining revenue from its bestselling heartburn drug Protonix, which now faces competition from generic versions.

Wyeth has about 2,700 employees in Massachusetts, making it one of the state’s largest employers in the life sciences industries.

The job cuts were first reported yesterday on the Pharmalot blog.
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:27 PM | Comments (0)

Loss widens at Idenix

Biopharmaceutical company Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today that its first-quarter loss widened because of a decrease in reimbursements for research and development costs and a lack of milestone payments received in the quarter.

Shares of Cambridge, Mass.-based Idenix fell 58 cents, or 8 percent, to $6.67 in afternoon trading.

The company's loss ballooned to $20.5 million, or 36 cents per share, from a loss $11.6 million, or 21 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue fell 91.8 percent to $2 million from $24.8 million last year.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected a loss of 25 cents per share, with revenue of $7.7 million.

Idenix said that revenue was hurt by a $12 million decrease in a research and development reimbursement from Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, which has worldwide commercialization rights to the two companies' hepatitis B treatment Tyzeka. In addition, the company did not record any milestone payments in the quarter. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:10 PM | Comments (0)

Mass. man wins Samuel Adams homebrew contest

A pale ale brewed by a Massachusetts man has won the 2008 Patriot Homebrew Contest hosted by The Boston Beer Company, brewers of Samuel Adams beers.

Adam Walsh's India pale ale triumphed over nearly 200 other brews to win the competition. In addition to awarding Walsh a $2000 prize, Samuel Adams will brew Walsh's Patriot Homebrew IPA at its Boston Brewery to be served at the Samuel Adams Brewhouse in Gillette Stadium during the entire 2008-2009 football season.

Posted by globebusiness at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)

New England unemployment rate unchanged

The unemployment rate in New England, at 4.8 percent in March 2008, was essentially unchanged over the month, according to a report issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Though little changed since February, the New England unemployment rate has risen 0.4 percentage point over the last three months. The U.S. jobless rate in March, at 5.1 percent, was up 0.3 percentage point since February. Since March 2007, the jobless rates for New England and the nation have increased, up 0.4 and 0.7 percentage point, respectively.

In March, two New England states posted jobless rates significantly different from that of the U.S. The jobless rate in New Hampshire, at 3.9 percent, was measurably lower than nationwide average. By contrast, the unemployment rate in Rhode Island, at 6.1 percent, was measurably higher than the U.S. average. Rhode Island was one of only five states, along with the District of Columbia, to have an unemployment rate higher than the nationwide average.

Among the remaining New England states, jobless rates ranges from 4.4 percent in Massachusetts to 5.3 percent in Connecticut, but statistically, none of these rates differed significantly from the national rate

Posted by globebusiness at 11:25 AM | Comments (0)

Biogen's Rituxan fails in lupus trial

Biotechnology companies Biogen Idec Inc., based in Cambridge, and Genentech Inc. said today their drug Rituxan failed a late-stage study involving lupus patients.

The drug, which is already approved to treat non-Hodgkins lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis, failed to prompt a response in patients when compared with placebo in the 52-week study.

The drug also failed to meet any of its six secondary goals.

"We understood from the outset the significant challenges in developing treatments for systemic lupus erythematosus," said Dr. Hal Barron, Genentech's senior vice president of development and chief medical officer, in a statement.

The company has another ongoing late-stage study on lupus nephritis patients and said that will continue. Lupus nephritis is an inflammation of the kidney caused by lupus, a chronic inflammatory disease. Results from that study are expected in the first quarter of 2009.

Shares of Biogen Idec fell $2.75, or 4.3 percent, to $61.92 in morning trading Tuesday.

Shares of Genentech, based in South San Francisco, fell $3.25, or 4.4 percent, to $69.91.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)

Cynosure profit more than doubles

Cosmetic treatment equipment maker Cynosure Inc. said today that its first-quarter profit more than doubled on strong demand for its aesthetic laser products.

The company earned $4.9 million, or 38 cents per share, compared with profit of $2.1 million, or 17 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 41 percent to $36.8 million from $26.1 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, expected profit of 38 cents per share on revenue of $34.6 million.

Laser product revenue increased 43 percent in the quarter, led by sales of the company's Smartlipo laser lipolysis workstation and Affirm anti-aging platform.

Shares rose 95 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $25.17 in morning trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2008

Rezendes wins Knight fellowship

Michael Rezendes, a veteran investigative reporter for the Boston Globe, was among 12 journalists today who were awarded John S. Knight fellowships for a year of independent study at Stanford University beginning this fall.

Rezendes, a member of the Globe's Spotlight Team who shared a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for the newspaper's coverage of the clergy sexual abuse crisis, will study the threat of secrecy in a democratic society during the 2008-2009 academic year.

Also named to the Stanford fellowships yesterday were Christopher Allbritton, a freelance journalist; Stephanie Banchero, an education reporter with the Chicago Tribune; Diane Cardwell, city hall bureau chief for the New York Times, Babak Dehghanpisheh, Baghdad bureau chief for Newsweek, Jeff Elder, a columnist with the Charlotte Observer, Andrew Haeg, a senior producer and analyst for American Public Media; Lee Hockstader, an editorial board member of the Washington Post; Burt Herman, Korea bureau chief for the Associated Press; Antonio Ruiz-Camacho, managing editor for Rumbo newspapers in Houston; Geri Smith, Mexico City bureau chief for BusinessWeek, and Janine Zacharia, a diplomatic correspondent with Bloomberg News.

The fellows will join nine from other countries who were announced in March. Financial support for the US fellows comes chiefly from an endowment by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Posted by globebusiness at 6:08 PM | Comments (0)

Summit Partners raises a $1.56b fund

Summit Partners, a Boston venture capital and private equity firm, has raised a $1.56 billion European buyout fund.

Summit said the private equity fund will be its first dedicated exclusively to investing in mid-size and growth companies across the Atlantic.

Summit, which has offices in London, and Palo Alto, Calif., has also raised an $825 million subordinated debt fund, its fourth, boosting the amount of capital it can invest in deals.

Combined with Summit’s existing funds, the two new funds bring the firm’s total capital available for investment to nearly $6 billion.
(By Robert Weisman, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 4:51 PM | Comments (0)

Medical lab to pay nearly $689,000 in overtime case

The medical laboratory operator Quest Diagnostics Inc. has agreed to pay nearly $689,000 in back wages for alleged violations of federal labor law.

The US Department of Labor today said that Quest failed to fully pay 238 employees nationwide who were misclassified as being exempt from overtime requirements.

The agency says an investigation at Quest’s Cambridge lab revealed that client systems analysts nationwide did not receive overtime pay they deserved.

A phone call seeking comment from Madison, N.J.-based Quest was not immediately returned.

The company collects blood, urine, and tissue samples from medical centers to diagnose medical conditions.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:10 PM | Comments (0)

Sycamore says earnings will be down

Sycamore Networks Inc. said Monday its third-quarter revenue is expected to fall short of Wall Street expectations due to lower-than-planned orders by a major customer, according to preliminary financial results.

Shares of the Chelmsford company plunged 59 cents, or 15.8 percent, to $3.15 in premarket trading, having closed Friday at $3.74. The stock has traded between $3.21 and $4.35 during the past 52 weeks.

For the quarter ended April 26, Sycamore expects revenue to drop roughly 52 percent to about $21 million, from $43.5 million in the prior year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast quarterly revenue of $45.7 million.

The telecommunications equipment maker said lower-than-expected orders from a key customer was the biggest factor hurting third-quarter revenue results. The unexpected shortfall is expected to affect the company's 2008 objective to match or exceed 2007 revenue.

"We are disappointed with our third-quarter revenue level, which reflects the challenges and unpredictability associated with a highly concentrated customer base," said Daniel E. Smith, the company's chief executive.

Sycamore expects to report final third-quarter results at the end of May.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:24 PM | Comments (0)

Cambridge Bancorp earnings up slightly

Cambridge Bancorp today reported unaudited net income of $2,311,000 for the first quarter of 2008, or 61 cents per share, compared with $2,243,000, or 58 cents per share, for the same quarter in 2007. The quarter-over-quarter earnings increase of $68,000, about 3 percent, was achieved by continued growth in both net interest income and non-interest income, the bank said

Net interest margin was down slightly -- 3.95 percent for the three months ended March 31, 2008, compared with 4.04 percent for the first quarter of 2007. Most of the banks deposit growth over the past years came from relatively more expensive savings and time deposits.

Joseph V. Roller II, president and chief executive, said, "In 2008, we continue to build on the successes achieved in 2007."

Cambridge Bancorp's total commercial mortgages increased by $13.1 million or about 10 percent. Total loans outstanding grew by $10.1 million to $429 million at quarter end, representing a 2.4 percent increase over year-end in 2007.

Posted by globebusiness at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)

Mass. gas prices up 16 cents in a week

Another week, another gas record in Massachusetts.

A statewide survey on Monday by AAA Southern New England found an average price of $3.54 per gallon for self-serve, regular unleaded.

That's 16 cents more than a week ago, and 35 cents more than two weeks ago.

Until the recent spike in prices, the state's record stood at $3.23 per gallon, set in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

A year ago, gas was averaging $2.86 per gallon.

If there's a silver lining in the latest numbers, it's this: Massachusetts' current average is 6 cents below the national figure of $3.60.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)

Local home prices slide in March

Prices for Massachusetts single-family homes plunged nearly 11 percent last month, the biggest slide since the depths of the real estate downturn in the early 1990s.

The Warren Group, in its monthly report released today, said that the number of sales dropped 32 percent in March, to 2,637 homes, as the median sales price for a single-family home declined 10.6 percent to $304,000 from $340,000 in March 2007.

"The Bay State's housing market is looking a lot like it did at the end of 1990," said Timothy Warren Jr., chief executive of the Warren Group, a Boston real estate research and publishing firm.

The last time house prices fell this much in Massachusetts was an 11 percent slide in December 1990, he said.

"It might be awhile before we pull out of the current housing slump," he added.

Condominium sales statewide also fell sharply in March, but price declines were relatively small.

There were 1,462 condo sales last month, down from 2,269 in March 2007, a 36 percent decrease.

But the median condo price fell just 1.8 percent, to $270,000, from $275,000 a year ago.

A separate report on the local housing market was also issued today by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

While the association uses a different method to track real estate activity than the Warren Group, the reports showed mostly similar trends.

The March median selling price of a detached single family home in Massachusetts was $315,000, a drop of 8.4 percent from March 2007, the association said.

During March, the median selling price of a Massachusetts condo was $263,750, down 5.3 percent from a year ago, the realtors association said.

On a volume basis, 2,339 detached single-family homes were sold in Massachusetts during March, down 32.3 percent from a year ago, and 1,093 condos were sold statewide during March 2008, down 38 percent from March 2007, the realtors association said.

Adding to the housing slump, growing numbers of the state's homeowners are losing their homes in foreclosures by mortgage companies, including 1,167 in March alone.

"Foreclosures are still running rampant and causing a glut of homes to hit the market," Warren said.

In a statement, Massachusetts Association of Realtors president Susan M. Renfrew saw some reason for optimism in the future; with mortgage giants such as Freddie Mac relaxing loan limits for prospective home buyers, she said, "the opportunity for improvement does exist in the coming months."

For recent Globe coverage of the local housing market, click here.
(By Kimberly Blanton, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:00 AM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2008

TJX chief's pay package valued at $6 million

TJX Cos. chief executive Carol Meyrowitz received compensation valued at nearly $6 million in 2007, her first year in the top job as the off-price retailer's stock price held steady despite fallout from a massive data breach and a tough retail environment.

Meyrowitz received a base minimum salary of $1.4 million after being groomed to replace former interim chief executive and current chairman Bernard Cammarata at the start of TJX's last fiscal year on Jan. 28, 2007.

Meyrowitz, who added the chief executive title to the president's role she's held since 2005, also received $2.3 million in compensation under a non-equity incentive plan, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing yesterday by the Framingham-based operator of nearly 2,600 stores including T.J. Maxx and Marshalls.

Meyrowitz received stock and option awards the company valued at a total $2.2 million on the days they were granted.

She also was given $55,034 in other compensation, covering such items as an automobile benefit, legal fees reimbursement, and financial planning.

Her total compensation of $5.95 million represented a sharp increase from the $952,194 that Cammarata was awarded in 2006 as acting chief executive after temporarily taking the top job following the abrupt 2005 resignation of Edmond English.

Associated Press calculations of total pay include executives' salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation, and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the SEC.

Meyrowitz, 54, took the top job at TJX in a tumultuous year that started with TJX's Jan. 17, 2007 disclosure of a data breach believed to be the largest in U.S. history, based on the number of customer records involved.

TJX said at least 45.7 million credit and debit cards were exposed to possible fraud in a computer systems breach that began in July 2005, but wasn't detected until December 2006.

Court filings by banks that sued TJX put the number of affected cards at more than 100 million, based on estimates by credit card officials deposed in one of several lawsuits TJX faced.

Some of the litigation as well as government investigations have been settled. TJX also responded to the breach by spending millions of dollars to upgrade data security.

TJX's stock dipped as low as $26.10 on the New York Stock Exchange after the breach was disclosed, but closed out 2007 at $28.65, largely unchanged from its $28.90 price at the year's start.

Despite negative publicity from the breach, consumers didn't appear to punish TJX, as sales at stores open at least a year rose 4 percent last year.

While an economic downturn has hurt consumer spending, TJX and other lower-price and discount chains have generally fared well as shoppers increasingly seek bargain prices. TJX's 2007 profit margin was the strongest in six years, excluding data breach costs.

In addition to T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, the 129,000-employee company's stores include HomeGoods, A.J. Wright, Bob's, Winners, HomeSense, and T.K. Maxx. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:23 PM | Comments (0)

Avid shares sink on disappointing results

Shares of Avid Technology Inc. of Tewksbury sunk today, a day after the multimedia software developer fell to a loss in the first-quarter and widely missed Wall Street expectations, and two analysts urged investors to unload their shares.

After the bell yesterday, the company reported a loss of $21.1 million, or 54 cents per share, compared with a profit of $20,000 a year ago. Excluding one-time items, Avid said it lost 30 cents per share in the quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected, on average, a per-share profit of 6 cents.

Revenue decreased 9 percent to $198.3 million from $218.9 million, in the year-ago period, and fell short of Wall Street's target of $216.3 million in sales.

In a note to investors, titled "When Directionless, Time is Not a Friend," Kaufman Bros. analyst Barbara Coffey backed her "Sell" rating and $15 target price on the company. That price target projects the stock will decline 39 percent over the next year.

The analyst pointed out that its revenue decreased in all its business segments except its consumer video division, which saw revenue growth of 13 percent.

In their conference call, management said it is conducting a strategic review, and would announce details of the company's new direction and plans in July. Coffey, however, remained skeptical, saying that while Avid reviews its offerings, sales are falling. Meanwhile, Avid has been cutting prices, and the analyst has doubts that its reduced pricing and new products will be able boost sales in an increasingly competitive market.

Likewise, D.A. Davidson analyst L. Alan Davis called Avid's results disappointing and downgraded the stock to "Underperform" from "Neutral," and cut his price target to $20 from $25. The analyst said while he expects sequential improvement throughout the year, the business environment -- particularly for its professional video segment -- appears weaker than he had anticipated.

Avid shares dropped $3.34, or 13.6 percent, to $21.30 in midday trading on the Nasdaq stock market. The stock has lost 36 percent since hitting its 12-month high of $38.78 on April 26, and is off 13 percent since the start of the year. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:36 PM | Comments (0)

Hub firm honored for sustainable design

Architerra Inc., a Boston architecture firm specializing in green buildings, said it has been honored by the American Institute of Architects for its design of a school project in Weston.

The project is the Garthwaite Center for Science & Art (shown above) at the Cambridge School of Weston, and the center made the institute's list of top 10 green projects for 2008, Architerra said.

The project team's environmental goals included preserving as many trees as possible on the school's wooded campus, said the firm, which added that the contours of the building's layout were designed to mimic the hillside that the building's floor levels sit on.

A partial green roof manages storm water and lowers heating and cooling loads, and the building is oriented to the south to take advantage of daylight and passive solar heating opportunities, the firm said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)

EMC begins tender offer for Iomega shares

Data storage systems maker EMC Corp. said today that it will begin a tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Iomega Corp., a San Diego-based storage company best known for the Zip drive.

EMC of Hopkinton is offering $3.85 per share in cash to Iomega shareholders. Shares of Iomega closed at $3.82 yesterday.

The tender offer will end at midnight on May 21.

In April, EMC agreed to acquire Iomega for $213 million in a move to expand its offerings targeting small businesses and consumers. The price represented a 20 percent increase over EMC's initial bid of $178 million, or $3.25 per share.

The companies received antitrust approval for the deal on Tuesday. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)

An artisanal butter from Maine rates raves and kudos

Forget extra virgin olive oils and your exotic buffalo-milk ghees. As the culinary cognoscenti know, artisanal butter may be on the comeback trail - and esteemed by even the fussiest of epicures and gourmets.

The latest evidence? In Old Orchard Beach, Maine, the folks who make Kate's Homemade Butter with Sea Salt happily note that their artisanal product was just named the top pick in New York Magazine's list of best butters.

As an arbiter of taste, New York Magazine wrote: "After having been knocked to the back of the dairy case in the sixties, and buried under a fashionable flood of olive oil in the decades since, butter is back in a big way."

For the record - or at least according to Kate's publicist - Kate's sweet cream butter is made fresh daily in small slow-churned batches using pasteurized cream from cows gloriously ignorant of artificial growth hormones.

No preservatives or additives taint the butter's pristine pedigree, and Kate's founder and president Daniel Patry can trace a butter-churning lineage back four generations.

In a statement, Patry said, "We've all learned that making butter in the same authentic, healthy way that our grandparents and great grandparents did makes all the difference in the world."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:43 AM | Comments (0)

First-quarter loss shrinks for AMAG Pharmaceuticals

Cambridge biotechnology company AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today that its first-quarter loss narrowed, beating Wall Street's expectations.

The company reported a loss of $9.3 million, or 55 cents per share, compared with a loss of $10.2 million in the year-ago period.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, estimated a loss of 62 cents per share on sales of $590,000.

Revenue fell 33 percent to $612,000 from $913,000 in the first quarter of 2007.

Results were boosted by $3.3 million in interest income. The 2007 quarter included a $4 million litigation settlement charge.

Total costs and expenses rose 46 percent to $13.3 million in the quarter, due to increased selling, general and administrative costs related to the pending US launch of ferumoxytol in the first quarter of 2009.

A new drug application for ferumoxytol is currently under review with the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in chronic kidney disease patients. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:38 AM | Comments (0)

Shaw's deal aims to stretch shoppers' tax rebates

Shaw's Supermarkets Inc. plans to offer bonuses to customers who bring their economic stimulus, or tax rebate, checks to one of the West Bridgewater chain's 201 New England stores.

Customers can redeem their checks for Shaw's gift cards in $300 increments, and Shaw's will add an extra $30 to each card, the chain said. Customers who have their rebates deposited electronically can also participate in the program.

With the US economy slowing down, a recent Globe story noted that many retailers are scrambling to offer discounts and deals as a way to tap into some of the estimated $105.7 billion that the federal government is distributing to tax payers in the form of economic stimulus payments, or tax rebates.

The tax rebate, part of federal efforts to boost the economy, will put $600 in the pockets of most individual tax filers, $1,200 for many couples who file jointly, and an extra $300 per child for families.

According to Shaw's, recent data show that nearly 10 percent of disposable personal income is spent on food, and food prices are predicted to increase 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent this year as commodity and energy prices continue to rise.

For that reason, Shaw's says its new program will come in handy for many shoppers.

Here's how the program works: Customers should bring their government-issued economic stimulus or tax refund checks, along with government-issued identification, to customer service counters at their local Shaw's stores between May 2 and July 31 to purchase store gift cards in $300 increments, Shaw's said.

Each $300 gift card will be loaded with an additional $30, to bring each gift card total to $330, and customers will be able to purchase less than the total amount of their check in $300 increments, Shaw's said.

Customers who do not have a hard copy of their government-issued checks may still take advantage of this offer with cash, a credit or a debit card, by showing proof that their economic stimulus or tax refund check was deposited in their bank account, Shaw's said.

The program is limited to one offer per household with a limit of $1,200, Shaw's added.

About a dozen stores in the Shaw's chain use the Star Market name; the offer is good at both Shaw's and Star Market stores, a Shaw's spokeswoman said.

Since 2006, Shaw's has been owned by Supervalu Inc., a Minnesota company that operates nearly 2,500 grocery stores; Supervalu is offering the tax rebate program at all its US stores, including Shaw's and Star Market.

To see Supervalu's press release on the offer, which also applies to Shaw's, click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:02 AM | Comments (0)

April 24, 2008

Hearing will look at state's underground economy

US Senator John F. Kerry has scheduled a public field hearing in Chelsea Monday that will focus on the state's underground economy, the office of the Massachusetts Democrat said.

The hearing will examine the impact of employers who fail to abide by lawful hiring practices, said Kerry's office, which noted that Massachusetts loses $152 million in annual tax revenues due to the underground economy.

One topic for discussion is how the playing field can be leveled for businesses and workers abiding by the rules, Kerry's office said.

Kerry is the chairman of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:52 PM | Comments (0)

Tufts medical school dean joins drug maker's board

The dean of Tufts University’s medical school, Dr. Michael Rosenblatt (left), has joined British drug maker Shire PLC’s board of directors, the company said today.

Rosenblatt was previously director of the Harvard-MIT division of health sciences and technology and an executive with Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories, where he led drug-discovery efforts. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:37 PM | Comments (0)

No summer power shortage seen in New England

The organization that oversees New England's power grid says electricity supplies appear to be adequate to meet spiking demand this summer.

An annual update from Holyoke-based ISO New England Inc. says grid operators should have enough flexibility to handle sharply higher electricity use, even in a prolonged heat wave.

This summer, the region is expected to have nearly double the amount of so-called "demand resources" than it had last summer. Demand resources include large industrial customers that agree to cut electricity use during peak demand.

The organization forecasts this summer's peak New England demand could reach 28,000 megawatts under 90-degree temperatures. The region's all time peak power use was set Aug. 2, 2006, at 28,130 megawatts. One megawatt serves as many as 1,000 homes. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:41 PM | Comments (0)

"Do You Speak Dragon?" contest kicks off

Are you fluent in Dragon? Then, Nuance Communications Inc. urges you to enter its second annual "I speak Dragon!" competition, which begins today.

The Burlington company is a provider of speech and imaging solutions, and it claims its speech recognition product, Dragon NaturallySpeaking, can turn speech into text at up to 160 words per minute.

Last year, Nuance launched the first competition, which asked entrants to explain how Dragon NaturallySpeaking improved their lives.

One 2007 winner was a fly-fisherman; in the olden days, he painstakingly kept a hand-written journal on his favorite fishing holes and recorded data and details on water temperatures and lures used in successfully landing whoppers, but thanks to Dragon NaturallySpeaking, a labor of love has evolved into effortless dictation, Nuance claims.

In any case, the deadline for this year's competition, which has similar rules, ends June 30.

There will be three winners, and the winning entrants will each receive a Garmin Nuvi 360 Personal Travel Assistant (left) as well as Dragon NaturallySpeaking upgrades for three years, Nuance said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:24 PM | Comments (0)

Group gets foreclosure extension on Wharton estate

The organization that owns the Mount, Edith Wharton's famous Lenox estate (left), has been given more time to raise $3 million to avoid foreclosure.

Sandra Boss, the Mount's chairman, said yesterday that the estate's major creditor has extended the deadline for a second month, until May 31. The group said it has raised $800,000 in its emergency campaign, including $240,000 in the past 30 days.

The group said it has also received other donations, including $25,000 from former Walt Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner and his wife, Jane, to get ready for the 2008 season. The Mount, which gets about 30,000 visitors a year, will open to the public for the season May 9.

Wharton (right) designed and built the house in 1902. She finished her breakthrough novel, "The House of Mirth," there, and got the inspiration for "Ethan Frome." (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)

New York or bust on BoltBus

Yes, that's right, we snagged seat Numero Uno on the Hub’s inaugural departure for just $1.

The much-ballyhooed BoltBus started its 12 daily trips today between Boston’s South Station and New York’s Penn Station.

And we were on the case to see what the ruckus is all about – that is, besides the stuff you already know, like the promise of at least one seat for a buck and the free WiFi, which we’re using right now to blog.

So what’s it like?

For starters when you arrive, you’d better remember which bus terminal BoltBus leaves from because it isn't listed on the station’s monitors - at least it wasn't this morning.

Competitors Fung Wah, Lucky Star, Peter Pan , and Greyhound were there, though.

A BoltBus spokeswoman said she was hoping station management would correct the omission quickly.

Boarding was amazingly orderly and cool. BoltBus says one of its big selling points is that it guarantees that you'll get on the departing bus you bought a ticket for because the company won’t sell oversell seats, unlike its competitors. That means you don’t have to arrive at the station an hour early during popular travel periods and stampede when the bus door swings open.

BoltBus asks passengers to show up at least 15 minutes early and it boards in batches based on when you bought seats, with early birds getting seated first.

That’s how it worked this morning, and it was smooth. Still, some riders on today’s 7:30 a.m. bus showed up 30 minutes early and queued up at Gate 21. Creatures of habit, perhaps.

BoltBus lived up to its hype until the bus pulled away from the curb. Sure, the clean, new motorcoach sported 3.5 inches of extra legroom and departed on time. But BoltBus told us the driver would tickle our funny bones. BoltBus had whittled a pool of more than 1,000 applicants for the 50 driver positions largely by screening for the “Southwest Airlines” sensibility – people who easily laugh, smile, and crack jokes. One key interview question was what would you say to passengers when it’s time for the bus to depart? BoltBus said it hired “the ones who got up and danced a little jig and had fun.”

Our driver was professional and courteous, but fun-loving? I don't think so. And he definitely didn’t Riverdance or add levity to the early morning ride.

Oh, well. That’s what the free WiFi is for.
(By Nicole C. Wong, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)

Interactive Data's profit jumps on sales growth

Interactive Data Corp. of Bedford said today that its first-quarter profit jumped 26 percent as the financial data provider's core services for institutional customers enjoyed increased growth.

Net income for the three months ended March 31 rose to $32.3 million, or 33 cents per share, compared with $25.6 million during the same period a year earlier.

Three analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial predicted the company would earn 31 cents per share.

IDC said revenue increased to $181.7 million from $162.5 million a year earlier.

Revenue at the company's two biggest segments for institutional customers, Pricing and Reference Data, and Real-Time Services, grew 13.8 percent and 17.1 percent respectively.

"Overall our organic quarterly revenue growth of 8.7 percent, combined with prudent management of our business and the positive impact of certain one-time items, contributed to a 26.1 percent increase in both income from operations and net income," president and chief executive Stuart Clark (right) said in a statement.

IDC left its full-year revenue growth outlook of 7 to 9 percent unchanged.

The results appeared to leave investors wanting more. The stock fell $2.62, or 8.5 percent, to $28.38 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)

Shire agrees to buy orphan drug candidate

British drug maker Shire plc, which has nearly 700 employees in Massachusetts, said today it has agreed to pay $135 million to acquire global rights to an orphan drug candidate.

Shire said the enzyme replacement therapy it has agreed to buy from the Danish company Zymenex A/S aims to treat Metachromatic Leukodystrophy, or MLD, a neurological disorder that affects an estimated 2,000 patients in developed world markets; the therapy is currently in clinical trials.

The US Orphan Drug Act rewards companies that develop drugs for rare diseases by giving them seven years to sell each new treatment without competition from other manufacturers.

Sylvie Grégoire (left), president of Shire’s Human Genetic Therapies business in Massachusetts, also known as Shire HGT, said in a statement: "This product fits very well with Shire’s ERT portfolio of treatments for Lysosomal Storage Disorders. Shire HGT has been committed to MLD and by acquiring this mid-stage clinical program we hope to bring a MLD treatment to patients two years earlier than anticipated.”

Shire said recently it plans to move its local offices from Cambridge to Lexington as it looks to double its number of employees in Greater Boston.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)

Mass. foreclosures spike in March

Almost 1,200 Massachusetts properties were seized by mortgage companies in March, an increase of more than 140 percent from the number of foreclosures in March 2007, according to new data from Warren Group.

Massachusetts foreclosures during the first three months of this year topped 2,800, also about 140 percent greater than the number of foreclosures during the first quarter of 2007.

While the profile of the foreclosure issue has diminished somewhat, the numbers underscore that the problem keeps growing.

There are no signs as yet that any efforts by the mortgage industry or government officials are reducing the numbers of people losing their homes.

Warren Group reported that mortgage companies seized 1,167 Massachusetts properties in March, compared with 486 properties during the same month last year.

Total foreclosures during the first three months of this year:
Month----2008----2007
January----800----350
February----860----350
March----1,167----486
TOTAL----2,827----1,186

The number of foreclosures in March also is the highest since the early 1990s, surpassing the recent high-water mark of 1,018 last August.

An indication the worst is yet to come: The number of petitions to foreclose, an indicator of future foreclosures, climbed by 33 percent to 2,918 in March, compared with 2,189 filed in March 2007.
(By Binyamin Appelbaum, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)

Dunkin' expands its java empire in the Southwest

As it pursues the caffeine equivalent of Manifest Destiny, Dunkin' Donuts disclosed today plans by three franchisees to open 150 coffee-and-baked-goods cafes in the Phoenix area.

Phoenix is "now sold out," said the chain, a subsidiary of Dunkin' Brands Inc. of Canton.

Well entrenched in its native Northeast, Dunkin' Donuts is embarked on an aggressive national expansion strategy; two years ago, it said it planned to triple the number of its US stores to 15,000 by 2020.

In today's announcement, the chain noted that the Las Vegas market as well as several markets in Texas are also sold out and added that the Dunkin' Donuts is now poised to have a "strong footprint in the southwestern United States."

In 2006, Dunkin' Brands was purchased for $2.43 billion by a group of private equity firms that included two Boston buyout companies, Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:06 AM | Comments (0)

Clean Harbors prices stock offering

Clean Harbors Inc. of Norwell, which provides environmental and hazardous waste management services, said today that it priced a public offering of 2.5 million common shares at $63.75 each.

The price represents a slight discount to the stock's closing price of $64.79 yesterday on the Nasdaq Stock Market .

All shares are being offered by the company. Clean Harbors has also granted its underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 375,000 additional shares.

Clean Harbors expects to receive proceeds, after underwriting discounts and expenses and assuming the underwriters' over-allotment option is not exercised, of approximately $150.8 million. The company said it will use the funds for potential future acquisitions, to repay debt and for working capital.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. is acting as the sole book-running manager of the offering. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Merrill Lynch & Co. are acting as senior co-managers, and RBC Capital Markets, Needham & Co. LLC and Wedbush Morgan Securities Inc. are acting as co-managers.

The company currently has about 22.9 million shares outstanding. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:27 AM | Comments (0)

Booming defense business lifts Raytheon

Waltham defense contractor Raytheon Co. said today first-quarter profit rose 15 percent, beating Wall Street expectations, on increasing defense contract volume and lower interest and pension expenses.

The world's fifth-largest defense contractor reported net income for the January-through-March period of $398 million. That compares with a profit of $346 million in last year's first quarter.

Excluding a $2 million after-tax loss from a discontinued operation, Raytheon's profit in the latest period was $400 million, or 93 cents per share. That easily surpassed the consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial, who predicted 84 cents per share.

Net sales rose 11 percent to $5.35 billion, also beating the consensus estimate of analysts, who expected $5.12 billion.

Raytheon reiterated its full-year financial guidance. (AP)

(The Raytheon image above this story shows the ALE-50, a towed decoy system designed to lure enemy missiles away from an aircraft by providing a much larger radar cross section than the aircraft.)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:39 AM | Comments (0)

Thermo Fisher profit jumps 68 percent

The first-quarter profit at Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is up nearly 68 percent, boosted by improved operating performance.

The Waltham-based maker of laboratory supplies and scientific instruments said the latest quarter's profit also swelled compared to a year ago because of acquisition-related charges in last year's first quarter.

Thermo Fisher Scientific today reported net income of $233 million in the January-through-March period. That compares with a profit of $138.9 million a year earlier.

Not counting one-time items, the latest quarter's profit narrowly beat the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Thermo Fisher Scientific also slightly raised its profit and revenue expectations for the full year. The company expects a 2008 profit of $3.07 to $3.17, up from previous guidance of $3.05 to $3.15. Revenue is now expected to come in at $10.6 billion to $10.7 billion, up from earlier expectations of $10.5 billion to $10.6 billion.

Thermo Fisher has been in the news of late for one of its secondary businesses. Last week, it said that its hard-plastic Nalgene water bottles made with bisphenol A will be pulled from stores over the next few months because of growing consumer concern over whether the chemical poses a health risk.

Nalge Nunc International, a division of Thermo Fisher, said it will substitute its Nalgene Outdoor line of polycarbonate plastic containers with BPA-free alternatives.

For recent Globe coverage of Thermo Fisher, click here. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:12 AM | Comments (0)

April 23, 2008

ZS Genetics will compete for genomics prize

ZS Genetics Inc. of North Reading today became the seventh team accepted into the Archon X Prize for Genomics competition.

The competition will pay out $10 million to the first team that successfully sequences 100 human genomes within 10 days for less than $10,000 per genome; the task is considered a stepping stone to a breakthrough in personalized medicine.

"Expanding the field of competitors not only increases the chances of a winner, but increases the support and public awareness towards the quest of rapid and cost-effective whole human genome sequencing," said Marc Hodosh (right), the Brookline-based senior director for the Archon X Prize for Genomics.

ZS Genetics, led by engineer and inventor William Glover, is a five-year-old company developing technology that creates detailed images of individual DNA or RNA molecules using modified transmission electron microscopes and atomic labeling.

Its team for the X Prize competition will consiste of professors, biologists, engineers, and business people.
(By Robert Weisman, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:57 PM | Comments (0)

Logan flights for Southwest unlikely any time soon

The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce hosted a "special forum" this morning featuring Southwest Airlines Co.'s chief executive Gary Kelly, but the discount carrier's head honcho didn't arrive with special news for Boston's Logan International Airport.

Kelly kicked off his speech by almost apologizing and then preempting the inevitable question.

"I know that we serve the other airports," he told the 110 attendees, alluding to Manchester's Boston Regional Airport, Providence's T.F. Green Airport, and Hartford/Springfield's Bradley International Airport.

As to when the nation's largest low-fare airline will fly out of Logan, that's likely to happen "maybe one of these days," he said.

With the nation on the cusp of a recession and the airline industry battered by surging fuel prices, it's tough to branch out to new markets, he said.

On top of that, Logan's terminal rents and landing fees still make the airport's operating costs higher than Southwest's systemwide average of $5 to $6 per passenger.

Still, Kelly said, "We'll continue to take a very hard look at serving Boston Logan."

The rare public appearance of such a high-ranking Southwest executive in Boston had gotten people's hopes up in recent weeks.

Kelly said he makes an annual pilgrimage here to speak to university students and the financial sector, but even the chief executive of the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan, could not recall a Southwest official of this stature addressing Boston's broader business community before.

"It may be a prelude to things," said Massport's chief executive Thomas J. Kinton Jr. after shaking Kelly's hand at forum's conclusion.
(By Nicole C. Wong, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:43 PM | Comments (0)

Inventor wins Lemelson-MIT sustainability award

Martin Fisher has won the $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability for developing cheap, human-powered irrigation pumps, the Lemelson-MIT Program in Cambridge said today.

The pumps were designed by Fisher and his nonprofit enterprise KickStart to help rural farmers in regions like sub-Saharan Africa.

(At right, Fisher demonstrates one of the pumps.)

Fisher's Super MoneyMaker Pump can pull water from a source as much as 30 feet below where the pump operator is standing, and it can then pressurize the water and spray it to a height of more than 40 feet, the Lemelson-MIT Program noted.

"By learning and understanding African societal needs and cultures first hand, Fisher has harnessed the entrepreneurial drive of many Africans and empowered them with sustainable technological inventions," Joshua Schuler, executive director of the Lemelson-MIT Program, said in a statement.

The Lemelson-MIT Program, which was founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by inventor Jerome H. Lemelson and his wife, Dorothy, in 1994, recognizes outstanding investors and seeks to encourage sustainable solutions to real-world problems.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:58 PM | Comments (0)

Southwest chief: Airlines fare increases are likely

Southwest Airlines Co. chief executive Gary Kelly says rising fuel costs put major pressure on the strapped airline industry to increase fares.

Kelly spoke today at a breakfast hosted by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

Kelly said it appears that every airline, except for Texas-based Southwest, will report a loss in the first quarter this year. He said that means costs will either have to go down or fares will rise - though costs already have been reduced industry-wide.

Kelly said the industry can adjust to a drop in flyers by finding innovative ways to offer air travel.

He also indicated Southwest wasn't interested in its own merger, like the Northwest-Delta deal. He said just the thought is daunting, given the complexity and upfront costs. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:34 PM | Comments (0)

Spirit offers Hub flyers Trinidad option

Spirit Airlines Inc. is starting Boston to Trinidad air service via its Fort Lauderdale hub June 12.

The discounter already offers flights from here to a couple dozen destinations, mostly in Florida and the Caribbean.

To kick things off they (of the we-charge-for-checked-bags-and-just-about-everything-else) are advertising fares as low as 5 cents a seat (That deal ends today and involves flights between Fort Lauderdale and Port of Spain. Spirit is, however, also offering 5-cent-a-mile fares out of Logan, but those also end today and travel for those must take place on Tuesdays or Wednesdays between June 14 and Oct. 31).

Anyway, consider this an FYI. For more on Spirit, click here.
(By Paul S. Makishima, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)

Menino is set to launch a green business program

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino is scheduled to unveil today the city's Sustainable Business Leader program as part of a strategy to further Boston's green efforts, his office said.

The initial goal of the program is an effort to recruit 25 small to mid-sized businesses to adopt a range of sustainability strategies that will reduce the businesses' environmental impact, City Hall said.

The program is specifically designed to help the businesses to reduce their energy use, conserve water, and cut their solid waste, Menino's office said.

The program will be funded in part by a $50,000 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Menino's office said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

Genzyme profit slips on charge, but tops estimate

Cambridge biotechnology company Genzyme Corp. said today that its first-quarter earnings slipped 8 percent as an investment charge offset strong sales growth, and revised its full-year outlook to reflect delayed approval of its Myozyme drug.

Net income dipped to $145.3 million, or 52 cents per share, from $158.2 million.

Revenue climbed 25 percent to $1.10 billion from $883.2 million a year ago, led by 15 percent growth in sales of Gaucher disease drug Cerezyme to $304.3 million and 23 percent growth in kidney treatments Renagel and Renvela to $168.7 million.

Looking ahead, Genzyme lowered its outlook for 2008 adjusted profit to about $3.90 per share from prior guidance of $4 per share, reflecting the delay in approval by the Food and Drug Administration of Pompe disease treatment Myozyme.

On Monday, Genzyme said it will have to reapply with the FDA for Myozyme approval at a larger manufacturing capacity, delaying a decision by up to six months. The drug is approved in more than 40 nations but not yet in the United States on a wide scale, and Genzyme needs FDA clearance for a 2,000-liter manufacturing process to make it more widely available.

In a statement today, chairman and chief executive Henri A. Termeer (right) commented on earnings.

"We had a very strong first quarter to start the year," he said. "We continue to focus on our commitment to deliver 20-percent non-GAAP earnings growth through 2011 while building the company to ensure that we sustain our growth over the longer term."

For recent Globe coverage of Genzyme, click here. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)

Parametric reports profit rise on license sales

Product design company Parametric Technology Corp. said today that its second-quarter profit rose on strong European license revenue and the weak dollar.

Profit for the Needham company, which refers to itself as PTC, rose 8 percent to $18.8 million from $17.4 million in the 2007 second quarter.

Sales rose 13 percent to $257.8 million from $228.1 million.

Chief executive C. Richard Harrison (left) said in a statement the CoCreate Software business, which PTC acquired in November, helped overcome weak North America license revenue. PTC also had strong global maintenance growth, license revenue growth in Europe and currency benefits from the weak dollar.

Its shares rose $1.32 or 9.2 percent to $16.09 in morning trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. They have traded in the last year between $13.68 and $21.81. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)

Liberty Mutual agrees to buy Safeco for $6.12 billion

Liberty Mutual will buy Safeco Corp. for $6.12 billion in a deal to create the country's fifth-biggest property insurer.

Liberty Mutual, a privately owned insurer based in Boston, has offered $68.25 per share for Safeco, a 51 percent premium to yesterday's close.

Safeco, based in Seattle, sells $5.9 billion in insurance policies a year, while Liberty books annual premiums of more than $20 billion.

Both boards have approved the deal, and the sale is expected to close by the end of the third quarter pending shareholder and regulatory approval.

"The addition of Safeco significantly expands and strengthens the Liberty Mutual Group," said Edmund F. Kelly, Liberty Mutual's chairman, president, and chief executive (left). "Safeco's operations and product mix complement our existing Agency Markets operations. Additionally, both organizations have superb surety businesses which when combined will form the second-largest surety business in the United States."

Safeco president and chief executive Paula Reynolds said, "This is the opportunity to take West Coast inventiveness and launch it with a global brand at a substantial premium to Safeco shareholders."

Liberty Mutual, a 96-year-old firm with 41,000 employees, posted a profit of $1.5 billion last year on $25.9 billion in revenue. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:30 AM | Comments (0)

AMG reports first quarter results

Affiliated Managers Group Inc. said today that net income for its first quarter was $32.8 million, a 10-percent drop from a year ago.

The Beverly asset management company, which goes by the initials AMG and which has equity investments in a diverse group of boutique investment management firms, said revenues for the quarter rose 8 percent to $335 million.

Cash earnings per share, which the company identifies as a key metric, were $1.46 in the quarter, compared with $1.43 a year ago, AMG said.

"AMG generated solid earnings for the first quarter against the backdrop of a challenging market environment," Sean M. Healey (right), president and chief executive, said in a statement.

Healey also noted that AMG continued to make progress in expanding its global distribution capabilities.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:15 AM | Comments (0)

EMC profit falls 14 percent, revenue rises 17 percent

Data storage vendor EMC Corp. said today that its first-quarter profit dipped 14 percent on acquisition-related charges. But it posted a double-digit revenue gain that beat Wall Street forecasts.

Hopkinton-based EMC said that net income fell to $268.8 million, or 13 cents per share. in the three months ended March 31. That's down from $312.6 million, or 15 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.

The latest quarter's performance was hurt by a $79 million charge from acquisitions. Without that item and other one-time charges, EMC's profit was $477.3 million, or 23 cents per share.

Revenue rose 17 percent to $3.47 billion, beating the $3.45 billion consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

In a statement, EMC chairman, president, and chief executive Joe Tucci (left) said, "EMC is off to a solid start this year, and we remain on track to achieve the 2008 financial targets we set for the business at the beginning of the year."

For recent Globe coverage of EMC, click here. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:22 AM | Comments (0)

Biogen Idec profit jumps 24 percent

Biotechnology company Biogen Idec Inc. said its first-quarter profit rose 24 percent, boosted by sales of its multiple sclerosis drug.

The Cambridge company said it earned $163.1 million of $942.2 million. That compares with a profit of $131.5 million on revenue of $715.9 million in the first quarter of last year.

Biogen Idec said that sales of Avonex, one of its multiple sclerosis drugs, rose 19 percent in the quarter to $536 million.

Sales for Tysabri, another drug used to treat multiple sclerosis, more than tripled in the quarter, chief executive James Mullen (right) added in a statement.

Biogen Idec shares the rights to Tysabri with Elan Corp. of Ireland.

For recent Globe stories about Biogen Idec, click here. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:55 AM | Comments (0)

Zoll Medical reports earnings gain

Zoll Medical Corp., a manufacturer of resuscitation devices such as defibrillators and portable infusion pumps, said today that second quarter net income rose 78 percent to $5.7 million.

The Chelmsford company cited strong growth in all major parts of its business and added that it now expects to "modestly outperform" its fiscal year 2008 plan.

On a diluted earnings per share basis, net income was 27 cents, up from 15 cents a year ago, the company said.

Second-quarter revenues were $99 million, an increase of 40 percent from a year ago, Zoll Medical said.

In a statement, company president and chief executive Richard A. Packer discussed current expectations for 2008.

"We hope to achieve earnings per share of $1.10 for fiscal 2008, a 10 percent increase from our original guidance of $1.00 established at the beginning of the fiscal year," Packer said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:34 AM | Comments (0)

April 22, 2008

British drug maker to buy Sirtris for $720 million

GlaxoSmithKline PLC today agreed to buy Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, for $720 million to bolster the British pharmaceutical maker’s pipeline with Sirtris’ experimental treatments targeting aging-related diseases.

Glaxo said after the markets closed that it would pay cash to acquire all the shares of Sirtris, a 3-year-old firm that relied on venture capital funding before making its initial public offering last May.
The $720 million, $22.50 per-share price represents an 84 percent premium over Tuesday’s $12.23 closing price for Sirtris stock.

Sirtris’ research focuses on a recently discovered class of enzymes known as sirtuins that are believed to be linked to aging and appear to restrict calorie intake without a change in eating habits. For example, Sirtris is testing a modified version of a red wine extract called resveratrol in people with Type 2 diabetes.

Sirtris emerged from research on sirtuins by a Harvard Medical School scientist, Dr. David Sinclair, a company cofounder.

Sinclair led a 2006 study by Harvard and the National Institute of Aging that found heavy doses of resveratrol enabled obese mice to enjoy the benefits of being thin and live healthier, longer lives.

Although the implications for humans were unclear, the resveratrol doses appeared to lower the rate of diabetes, liver problems, and other fat-related ill effects in mice fed a high-fat diet.

This month, the Food and Drug Administration granted orphan-drug status to resveratrol, for the treatment of a fatal and progressive disorder called MELAS syndrome. The orphan-drug designation provides Sirtris with seven years of marketing exclusivity upon FDA approval of the drug.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:01 PM | Comments (0)

Hannaford toughens computer security after breach

The supermarket chain Hannaford Bros. Co. has spent millions of dollars on additional security measures since last month’s revelation that hackers may have accessed up to 4.2 million credit and debit card numbers, it said today.

The grocer, based in Scarborough, Maine, has stores in Massachusetts and several other states. It has started encrypting card numbers from the moment they are swiped at checkout counters. And it has tapped IBM to monitor security for its computer network around the clock.

But Hannaford’s top security executive said some other retailers are probably still vulnerable to similar attacks. ‘‘The latest threat wasn’t anticipated,’’ said chief information officer Bill Homa. ‘‘The bad guys are one step ahead.’’

Hannaford told Massachusetts authorities it found unauthorized computer programs, called malware, on servers in more than 270 stores. When customers swiped their credit cards, the malware intercepted the data as it was transmitted from cash register to credit card processors.

The malware stored the data — card numbers and expiration dates — on store computers and later sent the information to offshore computers, where it could presumably be picked up by the thieves.

Hannaford has said the intrusion potentially compromised cards used between Dec. 7 and March 10, sparking at least 1,800 reports of fraud.

Homa said the company complied with all the latest credit-card industry security standards. But, he said, the standards were written mainly to secure data stored on retailers’ internal computers and didn’t anticipate that hackers might be able to intercept credit-card numbers as they were transmitted to card processors for authorization.

‘‘It’s an ever-escalating issue,’’ said David Hogan, chief information officer for the National Retail Federation, a trade association. ‘‘It’s like building a wall around your credit card data. Your professional hacker just builds a taller ladder.’’
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 5:39 PM | Comments (0)

State bills nearly 500 people twice for taxes

Nearly 500 Massachusetts state taxpayers got a nasty surprise this week: Their taxes were taken out of their bank accounts twice.

The state Department of Revenue confirmed today what 473 taxpayers already knew: Their bank accounts had been hit twice for this year’s tax bill. That rang up to $8.2 million in overcharges by the state, said Bob Bliss, the department’s spokesman.

The error affected people who filed for tax extensions on the April 15 deadline and set up electronic payments to be made from their bank accounts.

Late today, the state was working to reverse the mistake and said it was putting up an informational notice on the Department of Revenue website.

‘‘It’s not excusable, and we are in the process of both apologizing and correcting the error,’’ Bliss said.
(By Beth Healy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 5:14 PM | Comments (0)

One Laptop Per Child loses another executive

A key person behind the ‘‘$100 laptop’’ for schoolchildren has left the project as the organization overhauls its operations and prepares to tweak its open-source approach by welcoming Microsoft Corp.’s Windows.

While the One Laptop Per Child Foundation is known as the brainchild of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Nicholas Negroponte, his longtime MIT colleague Walter Bender was a close number two. Bender oversaw software and content for the green-and-white XO laptops, whose user interface was specially designed as an educational tool.

But in March, after OLPC’s initial run of its $188 laptops reached fewer children than originally envisioned, Bender became head of ‘‘deployment.’’ OLPC said it was streamlining its organization because the laptop’s technology essentially had been built.

XO’s former top security architect, Ivan Krstic, wrote on his blog that Bender got demoted. Krstic said OLPC was undergoing ‘‘a radical change in its goals and vision.’’

Last week, Bender left the group entirely. That marked a third high-profile departure from OLPC. In addition to Krstic, Mary Lou Jepsen, who had been chief technology officer, left in December.

Negroponte said Bender was burned out after helping to shape OLPC for two years, during which time it has sold more than 500,000 laptops for children in such countries as Haiti, Afghanistan, Rwanda, Peru, Uruguay, and Mongolia.

Bender already has new plans: to launch an independent effort to further the development of the XO’s homegrown software, known as Sugar, and get it to run on Linux computers other than XOs. ‘‘Sugar is in a narrow place and it is ripe to be unleashed,’’ he wrote in an e-mail exchange.

Sugar relies heavily on icons and other graphical features and avoids Windows’ files-and-folders format. But some governments have hesitated to invest in laptops without Windows. Some competing low-cost laptops being billed as educational tools, such as the Classmate PC developed by Intel Corp., do run Windows.

For about a year, Microsoft has been working to get a slimmed-down version of Windows to run on XO laptops. As a result, Negroponte said he expects XOs will be able to run Windows or Sugar.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:45 PM | Comments (0)

Shaw's aims to give customers culinary inspiration

Shaw's Supermarkets Inc. said today that it is teaming up with the folks at America's Test Kitchen, a public television show about cooking, to help customers break out of their culinary ruts.

Focus groups conducted by the West Bridgewater-based chain found that many people were "sleep-shopping" in its grocery aisles and cooking the same "uninspired" meals week after week, the company said.

Looking to infuse diversity and pizzazz into its customer eating habits, Shaw's tapped America's Test Kitchen, which features uber chef Christopher Kimball.

Shaw's mandate to America's Test Kitchen? Create interesting recipes that can be easily prepared within 30 minutes.

Starting this month, the chain said its stores will feature an "Inspiration Station" - a booth that will offer recipe cards such as the one shown at left.

Each recipe has been tested at America Test Kitchen's headquarters in Brookline, and store aisles will have signs that point shoppers directly to the ingredients they will need for these recipes, Shaw's said.

Plans call for the "Get Inspired" program to feature eight different recipes each month, Shaw's said.

Among early recipes likely to be highlighted in the program are garlic chicken with sweet roasted pepper sauce, Mediterranean pork chops, and seared salmon with balsamic glaze, Shaw's said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:30 PM | Comments (0)

Raytheon chief earned nearly $15 million

Raytheon Co. chairman and chief executive William H. Swanson received 2007 compensation of nearly $15 million, up almost 25 percent from the previous year, according to regulatory filing today by the world's fifth-largest defense contractor.

Swanson received $1.23 million in salary, $3.05 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $575,699 in other compensation, including use of company aircraft and a company car, home security and financial planning services.

The bulk of Swanson's $14.96 million total compensation came in the form of stock awards that the Waltham-based firm valued at $10.11 million when they were granted last year. One award in January was valued at $6.38 million, and another in May at $3.73 million, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Swanson's total 2006 compensation was $11.98 million, with about $7.47 million from stock awards.

Associated Press calculations of total pay include executives' salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the SEC.

Raytheon's compensation committee said it set executives' compensations based on financial, operational, customer satisfaction, and other benchmarks.

Swanson, 59, headed Raytheon in a year in which the company's stock posted a nearly 16 percent gain with military hardware in strong demand. Shares have posted a small gain this year, reaching as high as $67.49 in January. Shares traded at $64.98 in afternoon trading today on the New York Stock Exchange.

The 72,000-employee company posted 2007 sales of $21.3 billion, up 8 percent for the year. Net income totaled $2.6 billion, about double the company's 2006 profit, and the backlog of contract bookings reached a company-record $36.6 billion.

Swanson, a 35-year employee at Raytheon, has been chief executive since July 2003 and chairman since 2004. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:26 PM | Comments (0)

Cambria closes on financing

Cambria Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today that it has closed a $5.4 million Series A financing.

The Woburn company said it will use the funding to advance its discovery of drugs that will treat such neurological disorders as ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is sometimes referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Participants in the financing included Biogen Idec New Ventures, the corporate venture group of Cambridge biotechnology company Biogen Idec Inc., and CommonAngels, a group of investors with offices in Lexington, Cambria said.

The company also said it is changing to Cambria Pharmaceuticals Inc. from Cambria Biosciences LLC.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:08 PM | Comments (0)

Vertex shares rise ahead of Hepatitis C data release

Cambridge biotechnology company Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. reported a wider first-quarter loss and lower revenue today, but shares climbed as analysts said upcoming data on its Hepatitis C drug telaprevir could be "highly significant."

For the quarter ended March 31, losses widened to $96.2 million, compared with a year-ago loss of $80.7 million as lower revenue was partially offset by reduced research and development expenses.

Total revenue declined to $41.7 million from $68.8 million in the 2007 quarter, as the company recorded less milestone and R&D partnership revenue.

The company also reaffirmed its full-year outlook for a loss of $380 million to $410 million on revenue between $200 million and $220 million. Wall Street's revised guidance forecasts a loss of $397.6 million on revenue of $215.9 million.

Vertex said it will present data on its Hepatitis C drug telaprevir at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Milan this week. Late Monday, Vertex reported encouraging interim midstage data in patients taking telaprevir twice daily, instead of the current practice of three times a day.

"We believe BID (2x/daily) dosing for telaprevir could minimize the potential advantage of competitors with a better pharmacokinetic profile and may fundamentally change the competitive landscape," Leerink Swann analyst Howard Liang said in a note to clients.

Cowen and Co.'s Rachel McMinn said the possibility that telaprevir could be a twice/daily drug is "highly encouraging," although she is waiting to see antiviral data as well as 12-week safety data.

Shares rose $1.12, or 4.4 percent, to $27.46 in midday trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)

Waters Corp. reports profit increase

Analytical instrument maker Waters Corp. reported today that its first-quarter income grew 23 percent as sales rose.

In morning trading on the New York Stock E