Ambac Financial Group Inc. (ABK, $10.30, - $0.85, -7.59%) cut its quarterlydividend to 1 cent a share from 7 cents a share and will suspend all newstructured finance operations for the next six months to achieve Moody's Aaatarget level. Ambac expects the moves to free up about $600 million in capital.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA, $134,900, - $5,100, -3.6%) reported fourth-quarter net income fell 18% to $2.95 billion, or $1,904 a Class A share, from ayear earlier. The insurance-focused conglomerate reported operating earnings,which exclude realized gains and losses from investments and derivatives, of $2.35 billion, or $1,518 per Class A share.
Bunge Ltd. , (BG, $104.04, - $6.80, -6.13%) the White Plains, N.Y., agribusinessand food company, said that in its annual report, filed Monday with theSecurities and Exchange Commission, it corrected 2007 net sales and cost ofgoods sold, which were overstated in its 2007 preliminary report. Thecorrections total about $7 billion for the two figures and do not affect segmentoperating profit, net income, or earnings per share, Bunge said. The companysaid that the errors reflected "material weaknesses" in its internal financial-reporting controls and that it would remedy the weaknesses.
Crucell NV , (CRXL, $13.85, - $0.06, -0.43%) the Leiden, Netherlands,biotechnology company, signed an accord to develop and produce components of avaccine to be used by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in clinical studies. Financial termsand the nature of the vaccine weren't disclosed. Crucell said it will do thework at its vaccine-manufacturing facilities in Bern. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, asubsidiary of Wyeth (WYE, $43.31, - $0.31, -0.71%) of Madison, N.J., will beresponsible for developing the vaccine. Meantime, Wyeth received clearance fromthe U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market Pristiq to treat depression inadults.
Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI, $31.03, $0.20, 0.65%) was upgraded to outperformfrom peer perform by Bear Stearns with a $45 price target, with the brokersaying its confident the restaurant operator will be able to earn $2.70 pershare or more this year. "Darden is better positioned to grow sales and earningsin this environment than other casual dining companies because of Olive Garden'sbrand positioning, the company's restaurant support systems that are containingexpenses, and its marketing expertise," the broker said.
Diebold Inc. , (DBD, $38.55, $14.43, 59.83%) the North Canton, Ohio, producerof ATMs and other technology, received bid of $40 a share, or $2.6 billion, from United Technologies Corp. (UTX, $68.42, - $2.09, -2.96%). Diebold earlier hadrejected an overture from the industrial and technology giant.
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN, $57.50, - $1.21, -2.06%) signed letters of intent to acquireNavCor and Formar, which distribute Garmin's products in Finland and in Belgiumand Luxembourg. Terms weren't disclosed.
HSBC Holdings PLC's (HBC, $78.02, $2.77, 3.68%) net income for 2007 rose 21%to $19.13 billion even after earnings in North America were virtually wiped outby rising bad-debt charges. The result came in ahead of market expectations asthe bank reported strong profit growth in other regions, including 42% pretaxprofit growth in Hong Kong to $7.34 billion. The bank also raised its totaldividend payout for the year by 11.1% to 90 cents a share.
MBIA Inc. (MBI, $12.43, - $0.54, -4.16%) said in a filing to the Securities andExchange Commission that it's making the lowest annual bonus payouts in itshistory, with some bonuses cut by more than 50%. But the bond insurer isrealigning salaries, and so some officers will get "significant" increases.Chairman and Chief Executive Jay Brown will get an annual salary of $500,000. MBIA also approved cash retention awards of up to $2.25 million for executivesother than Brown.
Mitsubishi Electric Corp., (MIELY, $94.80, $0.00, 0.00%) the Tokyo producer ofequipment for information processing, communications, space development,consumer electronics and more, said it would exit its business that producesmobile-phone handsets. The move will prompt a loss of 17 billion yen ( $163million) within pretax profit for fiscal 2008, Mitsubishi said. The companysupplies handsets to NTT DoCoMo Inc. (DCM, $15.03, $0.44, 3.02%) MitsubishiElectric said in a statement late on Sunday that finding "growth in demand forthe already matured domestic mobile-phone market" has become "difficult." That'sbecause consumer preferences have become so diverse that business conditionshave become "severe," Mitsubishi said.
Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC, $82.42, $3.81, 4.85%) said it received a contractto replace the U.S. Air Force's KC-135 tankers with the KC-45A aerial refuelingtanker. The KC-45A is based on the Airbus A330 commercial jet, which is producedby EADS. (EADSY, $26.00, $0.00, 0.00%) The contract has an estimated value of $40 billion. Northrop beat out Boeing Co. (BA, $80.28, - $2.51, -3.03%) for thebid.
Optio Software Inc. : (OPTO, $1.74, $0.49, 39.20%) Bottomline Technologies saidit's agreed to acquire Optio in a transaction valued at $44.9 million. Optio,whose shares closed at $1.25 each on Friday, specializes in products to automatetransactional business documents and health records. Bottomline TechnologiesInc. , (EPAY, $13.02, $0.18, 1.40%) Portsmouth, N.H., expects the acquisition tocontribute to earnings beginning with fiscal 2009.
Pepco Holdings Inc.'s (POM, $24.79, - $0.48, -1.90%) fourth-quarter profit roseto $57.8 million, or 29 cents a share, from $36.3 million, or 19 cents a share,a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research estimated a profit of 33cents a share. Revenue rose to $2.33 billion from $1.9 billion.
Polypore International Inc. , (PPO, $18.77, $0.80, 4.45%) the Charlotte filterproducer, bought a producer of battery-separator membranes, and as a result ofthe deal, increased its estimate of its earnings for fiscal 2009, ending Jan. 3.Polypore acquired Microporous Holding Corp. of Piney Flats, Tenn., fromIndustrial Growth Partners II, the San Francisco private-equity firm, and otherholders. Polypore said in a statement on Monday that the deal is valued at $76million, including the purchase price and assumption of debt. Polypore nowexpects to earn 90 cents to $1.01 a share in fiscal 2009 on sales of $580million to $605 million. A survey of four analysts by FactSet Research producedan average estimate of 87 cents a share for the year.
E.W. Scripps Co. (SSP, $42.19, $0.42, 1.01%) swung to a fourth-quarter loss of $256 million, or $1.56 a share, from a year-earlier profit of $134 million, or 81 cents a share, because of a pretax impairment charge of $411 million forlosses at uSwitch. The Cincinnati newspaper publisher's revenue fell to $679.2million from $683 million.
Sprint Nextel Corp. ( $7.02, - $0.09, -1.27%) was downgraded to neutral from buyby Banc of America Securities in a note published late Friday. The broker saidthe telecom's fourth-quarter results, coupled with its bleak outlook for thefirst quarter, indicate the fundamental issues at Sprint have not beencontained.
United Parcel Service Inc.'s (UPS, $70.03, - $0.21, -0.30%) fourth-quarter losswidened to $2.52 a share from the previously reported $2.46 a share to correct atax benefit in the latest period. Fourth-quarter adjusted earnings were loweredto $1.07 from $1.13 a share. The Atlanta package-delivery company said thecorrection has no effect on revenue, operating profit or loss, profit or lossbefore taxes, segment results, cash flow and liquidity, and reiterated itsoutlook for first-quarter earnings of 94 cents to 98 cents a share and fiscal2008 earnings of $4.30 to $4.50 a share.
Verizon Communications : (VZ, $36.19, - $0.13, -0.36%) A group including theVerizon Business subsidiary received a license to provide fixed-line phoneservice in Saudi Arabia. Terms weren't disclosed. The New York telecom giantwill provide business and residential voice and data services. The deal is partof the kingdom's broader expansion of information technology to support thenational economy, a founder of the project with Verizon, Zuhair Ali Azhar, saidin the statement. The announcement comes a day after Motorola Inc. , (MOT, $9.79,- $0.18, -1.81%) the Schaumburg, Ill., communications company, said it received a $335 million contract to supply a communications network and related services toa Saudi Arabian member of Kuwait's Zain Group.
Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN) said its 2007 net income tripled to $5.9 billion, or $5.64 a share, from a year earlier. The company said it's still in dealdiscussions with Brazil's Vale. (RIO, $34.31, - $0.53, -1.52%)
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires 03-03-08 1018ET Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
