|
Cooper Tire first quarter net profit doubles |
PDF |
| Print | |
E-mail |
|
Written by Associated Press
|
|
Thursday, 09 May 2013 10:10 |
|
FINDLAY, Ohio (AP) — Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. said Thursday its first-quarter net income more than doubled, as lower raw material prices and manufacturing costs more than offset a drop in sales.
The Findlay, Ohio-based company earned $56.1 million, or 87 cents per share, up from $21.6 million, or 34 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2012.
Revenue fell 12 percent to $861.7 million, from $984.3 million last year.
Analysts, on average, expected a profit of 66 cents per share on $965 million in revenue, according to FactSet.
North American tire sales dropped 14 percent to $602.3 million, while international sales fell 16 percent to $341 million. Cooper attributed the decreases to lower sales volumes stemming from inventory adjustments at some of its customers, along with soft global demand for tires and continued weak economic conditions.
|
|
Last Updated on Thursday, 09 May 2013 10:11 |
|
House approves bill to change overtime pay law |
PDF |
| Print | |
E-mail |
|
Written by SAM HANANEL, Associated Press
|
|
Thursday, 09 May 2013 06:23 |
|
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led House on Wednesday approved a measure that would give private sector workers the option of trading overtime pay for extra time off weeks or months later.
The bill, approved on a 223-204 vote, would allow employees who work more than 40 hours a week to save up to 160 hours of earned time off for future use. GOP lawmakers say they want to give busy working parents at private firms the same flexibility that public sector workers have to take time off to spend with their children or care for aging parents.
Democrats and worker advocacy groups say it opens the door for employers to pressure workers not to take overtime pay. And they warn there is no guarantee workers would be able to take the extra time off when they want.
The bill has little chance of success in the Democratic-controlled Senate. President Barack Obama has threatened a veto, saying the bill would not prevent employers from slashing overtime hours and doesn't offer enough protection for workers who may not want to receive compensatory time off instead of overtime pay.
The measure is part of a broader Republican agenda aimed at expanding the party's political appeal by offering conservative ideas to help average Americans on issues like economic growth and job creation.
|
|
|
U.S. medicine spending shows rare dip in 2012 |
PDF |
| Print | |
E-mail |
|
Written by LINDA A. JOHNSON, AP Business Writer
|
|
Thursday, 09 May 2013 10:05 |
|
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Spending on prescription medicines in the U.S. fell for the first time in decades last year, slipping as cash-strapped consumers continued to cut back on use of health care services.
Patients also benefited from a surge of new, inexpensive generic versions of widely used drugs for chronic conditions like high cholesterol, according to a new report.
Total spending on medications dropped to $325.8 billion last year from $329.2 billion in 2011. Likewise, average spending per person on medicines fell by $33, to $898 last year, according to the report from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics.
"That's the first time IMS has ever measured the decline in the 58 years we've been monitoring drugs," Michael Kleinrock, director of research development at the institute, told The Associated Press.
Factors behind last year's drop in drug spending include positive trends such as more use of cheap generic pills and flukes such as a fairly mild cold and flu season in early 2012. But there also was a big negative: people rationing their own health care.
|
|
Wrigley takes new caffeinated gum off market |
PDF |
| Print | |
E-mail |
|
Written by MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press
|
|
Thursday, 09 May 2013 06:22 |
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Food and Drug Administration investigation into the safety of caffeine-added foods has prompted Wrigley to take its new caffeinated gum off the market for the time being.
Wrigley said Wednesday that it will temporarily halt sales and marketing of Alert caffeinated gum after discussions with the FDA. President Casey Keller said the company made the move "out of respect" for the agency, which said it would investigate the health effects of added caffeine on children and adolescents just as Wrigley rolled out Alert late last month. A stick of the gum has an amount of caffeine equivalent to half a cup of coffee.
"After discussions with the FDA, we have a greater appreciation for its concern about the proliferation of caffeine in the nation's food supply," Keller said in a statement to The Associated Press. "There is a need for changes in the regulatory framework to better guide the consumers and the industry about the appropriate level and use of caffeinated products."
Keller said the company has paused production and sales of the gum to give the agency time to regulate the caffeine-added products.
|
|
