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AstraZeneca, Gannett, General Mills, Pfizer, Sealy, Teva
By MarketWatch
Last Update: 7:49 AM ET Jul 1, 2009
TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Stocks expected to move significantly in trading on Wednesday include AstraZeneca, Gannett, General Mills, Pfizer, Sealy and Teva.
AstraZeneca: AZN The European Commission has granted marketing authorization for its oral anti-cancer drug Iressa. The authorization covers the treatment of adults with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with activating mutations of EGFR-TK (epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase) across all lines of therapy. AstraZeneca withdrew its EU marketing authorization application for Iressa in 2005. It submitted a new regulatory package to the EMEA in May 2008.
Ball Corp. BLL said it's going to buy Anheuser-Busch InBev's AHBIF U.S. beverage-can-manufacturing assets for $577 million. The facilities being acquired are can-manufacturing plants in Rome, Ga.; Columbus, Ohio; and Ft. Atkinson, Wis., and a beverage-can-end manufacturing plant in Gainesville, Fla. The deal may lift earnings and cash flow in 2010, Ball Corp. said. Anheuser-Busch InBev said the deal fits with its plans to de-leverage and that the units it's keeping are more focused on beer-can production.
Citigroup C reached a deal to sell NikkoCiti Trust & Banking Corp. to Nomura Trust & Banking Co. for 19 billion yen, or $197 million. "This transaction is in line with Citi's stated global priority to allocate capital and focus its resources on the best growth opportunities. Citi will maintain a strong presence in securities services and transaction services in Japan. We see significant opportunity for these businesses in Japan, which play to Citi's key strengths," said Nikko Citi Holdings CEO Douglas Peterson.
Gannett Co. GCI will cut more than 1,000 jobs, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a source. The paper reported that the newspaper publisher will make the cuts at its U.S. Community Publishing division, which consists of more than 80 local daily papers. Gannett, like other newspaper publishers, is suffering from a decline in advertising revenue. The company cut more than 10% of its 41,500 employees last year and had been widely expected to make further reductions.
General Mills, GIS the Minneapolis cereal giant, reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income nearly doubled on 5% higher net sales. On an adjusted basis, earnings were 86 cents a share against 73 cents. Sales advanced to $3.65 billion from $3.47 billion. A survey of analysts by FactSet produced consensus estimates of 81 cents of profit on $3.7 billion of sales. General Mills reported that foreign-currency translations reduced sales growth in the quarter by three percentage points. General Mills also estimates fiscal 2010 adjusted profit will grow 6% to 7% from fiscal 2009's $3.98 a share.
ING Groep ING will consolidate its Dutch insurance organizations, cutting 800 jobs over three years, mostly through attrition, "internal reallocation and ... discontinuing temporary contracts." The separate organizations of Nationale-Nederlanden, RVS and ING Verzekeren Retail "will be combined into one customer-oriented organization under the Nationale-Nederlanden brand," the Dutch financial-services group said. "The decision is in line with the back-to-basics strategy to simplify the organization, reduce costs and improve customer focus," it said.
Pfizer Inc. PFE discontinued a Phase III colorectal cancer treatment trial because of the likelihood it would not show a statistically significant improvement in patients. The clinical trial involved adding Pfizer's Sutent to the chemotherapy drug Folfiri for colorectal-cancer patients and comparing the results with patients receiving Folfiri alone.
Sealy ZZ swung to a net loss of $5.2 million, or 6 cents a share, from profit of $12 million, or 13 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. The results included charges of 13 cents a share. Revenue slid to $298.5 million from $375.4 million, the Trinity, N.C., bedding products manufacturer said. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 5 cents a share on revenue of $299.6 million.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., TEVA the Jerusalem drugmaker, said on Wednesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the company to market a generic version of Ortho McNeil Janssen's JNJ Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo oral contraceptive. Teva has begun shipping the product under the name Tri-Lo Sprintec. Teva was the first company to file an abbreviated new-drug application for the product and has received 180 days of marketing exclusivity, the company said. Teva is fighting a patent dispute on the product in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and no trial date has yet been set, the company said.
Wal-Mart, WMT the world's largest retailer, broke with most major companies and told the White House that it supports requiring employers to provide health insurance to workers, a centerpiece of President Barack Obama's effort to provide near-universal coverage to Americans. See The Wall Street Journal report on the issue.
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