AHP Sees Strong Sales Growth; Lexmark to Join S&P 500
American Home Products
(AHP)
, refusing to be pulled down by the weight of a recent $23.3 million jury verdict over its diet drug combination fen-phen, told
Reuters
it expects its pharmaceuticals division to achieve earnings growth in the mid-teens percentage range over the next two and possibly three years.
Standard & Poor's
said
Lexmark
(LXK)
would replace
Raychem
(RYC)
in the
S&P 500
after the close of trading Thursday. Raychem is being acquired by
Tyco
(TYC)
.
In other S&P action,
Calpine
(CPN)
will replace
TCA Cable TV
(TCAT)
in the
S&P MidCap 400
on the same date. TCA Cable is being acquired by
Cox Communications
(COX)
.
Premier Parks
(PKS)
will replace
Sbarro
(SBA)
in the S&P MidCap 400 on Friday. The Sbarro family is buying the Sbarro shares it doesn't already own.
Chittenden
(CHZ)
will replace
American Bankers Insurance
(ABI)
in the
S&P SmallCap 600
on an unspecified date. American Bankers is being acquired by
Fortis
.
In other postclose news (earnings estimates from
First Call
; earnings reported on a diluted basis unless otherwise specified):
Earnings/revenue reports and previews
Gerber Childrenswear
(GWC)
reported second-quarter-earnings of 11 cents a share, below the five-analyst estimate of 17 cents, and down from 21 cents a year ago.
Hispanic Broadcasting
(HBCCA)
reported second-quarter earnings of 20 cents a share, better than the four-analyst estimate of 18 cents, and up from 16 cents a year ago.
Hillenbrand
(HB)
said it expects its third-quarter earnings per share to come in 25 cents to 39 cents below the five-analyst estimate of 64 cents, due to lower sales in the latest quarter.
Offshore Logistics
(OLOG)
reported first-quarter earnings of 15 cents a share, better than the seven-analyst estimate of 11 cents a share but lower than 29 cents a year ago.
Simon Property Group
(SPG) - Get Report
reported second-quarter earnings of 71 cents a share, in line with the 14-analyst estimate and up from 66 cents a year ago.
Salon.com
(SALN)
reported a first-quarter loss of $10.10 a share compared with a year-ago loss of $3.75. The company said the latest quarter included a noncash preferred deemed dividend of $11.5 million. No per-share figures from operating income were provided. The single-analyst estimate was for a 61-cent loss per share.
Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures
Dominion Resources
(D) - Get Report
and
Consolidated Natural Gas
(CNG)
agreed to sell CNG's
Virginia Natural Gas
distribution subsidiary in exchange for support of the companies' proposed merger by the
Virginia State Corporation Commission
.
Offerings and stock actions
Gateway
(GTW)
said it plans a 2-for-1 stock split of its common shares on Sept. 7, for shareholders of record Aug. 20.
Interworld's
(INTW:Nasdaq) 3-million share IPO was priced mid-range at $15 a share by lead underwriter
Invemed Associates
.
Miscellany
Earlier this summer, a group of independent oil producers known as
Save Domestic Oil
filed suit alleging that Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Mexico and Iraq greased prices on crude oil sold in the U.S. The group complained that low prices had rusted independent firms out of business. But the U.S.
Commerce Department
rejected their case on the grounds that opposition from oil companies outweighed support for the case. Commerce said that without industry support, it couldn't ignite an investigation.
Michael Foods
(MIKL)
said it hired
U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray
and
Merrill Lynch
to help it pursue strategic options including mergers, acquisitions, or the sale of the company.
Two funds led by financier George Soros sold 9.4 million shares of
IRSA
(IRS) - Get Report
a Latin American real estate company to
Peabody Global Real Estate Partners
,
and Peabody International Real Estate Partners
. Peabody funds are managed by
O'Connor Group
and
J.P. Morgan
.