BUSINESS BRIEFS
Iran tension, tropical storm push up oil prices
Advertiser Staff and Wire Services
NEW YORK — Oil prices rose yesterday on a threat of new sanctions against Iran and as Tropical Storm Dolly headed into the Gulf of Mexico, prompting a hurricane watch for parts of Texas and Mexico.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery added $2.16 to settle at $131.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was oil's first gain in a week.
For drivers in the U.S., pump prices eased by a few pennies. A gallon of regular gasoline now sells for an average just shy of $4.07, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. Diesel prices also pulled back, to an average of $4.818 a gallon.
AMEX PROFIT SINKS 38 PERCENT
NEW YORK — American Express Co. said yesterday its second-quarter profit tumbled 38 percent, well below Wall Street's forecast, as consumer spending slowed and credit indicators deteriorated beyond the lender's expectations.
For the period ended June 30, American Express reported net income of $653 million, or 56 cents per share, compared with $1.06 billion, or 88 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Analysts, on average, expected earnings of 83 cents per share on revenue of $7.6 billion, according to Thomson Financial.
Revenue rose 8 percent to $7.48 billion from $6.94 billion in the second quarter of last year.
BANK OF AMERICA BEATS ESTIMATES
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bank of America Corp. became the latest in a string of big banks whose second-quarter earnings, while hurting from the impact of the credit crisis, still managed to beat Wall Street expectations.
The nation's second-largest bank by assets said yesterday its profit fell 41 percent as losses in its struggling mortgage operations were offset by business in other parts of the company. But it easily beat Wall Street estimates, and its stock rose $1.07, or 3.9 percent, to close at $28.56.
Four of the nation's five biggest banks have now reported better-than-estimated results.
BUSINESS GROUP FORECASTS SLUMP
NEW YORK — Factories laying off workers, stocks tumbling and shoppers ditching their credit cards forced the economy to contract in June, a trend likely to continue in the second half of 2008, a private business group said yesterday.
The New York-based Conference Board's forecast of future economic activity fell 0.1 percent last month, in line with forecasts by Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson Financial/IFR.
VYTORIN STUDY RAISES CONCERNS
TRENTON, N.J. — In the latest disappointment for cholesterol pill Vytorin, a major European study in patients with heart valve disease found the drug didn't prevent worsening of the disease or lower the need for valve surgery, sending its makers' stock plunging.
Results of a preliminary analysis of the just-completed study showed Vytorin, marketed jointly by Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp., was no better than placebo at lowering the risk of major cardiovascular events — including heart attack, stroke, heart surgery and death — in patients with aortic stenosis.
HASBRO PROFIT UP IN SECOND QUARTER
PAWTUCKET, R.I. — Toymaker Hasbro Inc. said yesterday second-quarter profit rose, helped by demand for products related to movies including "Iron Man" and "Star Wars."
However, shares fell as the company said it will increase prices for the second time this year on Sept. 1 to offset the rising cost of oil and commodities.
The Pawtucket, R.I.-based company said profit rose to $37.5 million, or 25 cents per share, from $4.8 million, or 3 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding a one-time year-ago expense related to repurchasing some warrants, net income fell 9 percent, but results beat the 22 cents per share that analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, predicted.
