Amgen Foreign Offices Raided in Investigation
Prosecutors and police raided some of Amgen Inc.’s offices in Germany and the Netherlands last month in an investigation of alleged company payments to a German physician, the company disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission. The raids were conducted at offices in Munich and Breda, the Netherlands. The search warrant issued by a Munich court “alleges improper payments by our German affiliate to a single hospital physician in Germany in 2001.” Shares of Thousand Oak’s based Amgen were up 1.7 percent to $68.22 in early trading on Wednesday.
Federated 2Q Earnings Up, Lifts Forecast
Federated Department Stores Inc. reported second quarter net income of $317 million (57 cents per share) up 114 percent from $148 million (42 cents) for the same period a year earlier. Revenue for the Cincinnati-based retail chain, which owns and operates all Robinson’-May and Macy’s stores in the Southland, was up 66 percent to $6 billion.
The better-than-expected quarterly results prompted the company to raise its forecast for the second half of the year as it converts more stores to the Macy’s nameplate. The company also said sales in stores open at least one year rose 4.6 percent during the quarter.
St. Louis Bank Acquires First Bank of Beverly Hills
St. Louis-based First Bank said it has agreed to acquire the Beverly Hills banking office of First Bank of Beverly Hills, a subsidiary of Calabasas-based Beverly Hills Bancorp Inc. The Beverly Drive Office reported deposits of approximately $156.5 million. Terms of the deal were not released.
Grocer Arden Group Cashes in on High-End Demand
Arden Group Inc., reported second-quarter net income of $4.7 million ($1.44 per share) up 4 percent from $4.5 million ($1.34) for the same period a year earlier. Revenue for the Compton-based parent company of upscale Southern California grocer Gelson’s Markets, rose 2 percent to $119.1 million.
The company said the results included Easter sales, which last year occurred in the first quarter, and an expense of $1.8 million related to the company’s stock-based employee inventive program. The company also reported an increase in customer traffic. Shares of Arden Group fell 3.7 percent to $104.03 in Wednesday trading on the Nasdaq. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $72.05 to $116.67.
UC System Joins Google Book-Scanning Project
Ten libraries in the University of California system, including UCLA’s, will join Google Inc.’s book-scanning project. Google’s project, which has been criticized by opponents as copyright infringement, hopes to eventually convert millions of library books into digital form. The UC system joins Stanford, Michigan and Harvard in contributing library collections to the digital project. The New York Public Library and Oxford University also are allowing the scanning of parts of their libraries. The Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild have filed suit, saying copyrighted material should not be given to Google without permission. Google said it only plans to use public domain books in their entirety and will use abbreviated portions of copyrighted material. The Mountain View-based company is footing the bill for the entire project.
