THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 18, 1996 TAG: 9607180471
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 47 lines
A.W. Faber-Castell Consulting USA Inc. recently set up its U.S. headquarters in Hampton, said the Virginia Peninsula Economic Development Council Wednesday. It is a division of A.W. Faber-Castell Group GmbH of Stein/Nuernberger, Germany, the world leader in wood-cased pencils for writing and drawing. The U.S. division specializes in SAP software, which is produced in Germany and used by many firms in the United States for standard business applications. It will invest $100,000 initially and create four jobs, with the goal of creating 50 jobs within the next three years. (Staff) Pharmaceutical giants win merger approval
The European Commission approved the merger of Swiss pharmaceutical companies Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz on Wednesday, less than three months after opening an antitrust investigation into the union. The new company, Novartis, will become the world's second largest pharmaceutical company after Britain's Glaxo Wellcome PLC and have estimated annual sales of $21 billion. The linkup won approval only after the companies agreed to surrender some of their hold on the market for animal health products, the commission said. (AP) Reynolds earnings down, aluminum prices fall
Reynolds Metals Co. reported Wednesday that earnings fell 54 percent in the second quarter, primarily because of sagging aluminum prices. The company earned $60 million, or 81 cents a share, in the April-June period, compared with $111 million, or $1.51 a share, during the same quarter a year ago. Revenues fell 9 percent to $1.8 billion from $1.9 billion. The average price per pound of aluminum was 77 cents in the second quarter, down from 92 cents per pound for the same quarter in 1995. (AP) Noland earnings, sales up for second quarter
Noland Company reported second-quarter 1996 net income of $2,125,000, or 58 cents per share, a 10 percent improvement over the year-earlier period's $1,932,000, or 52 cents per share. Sales for the quarter ending June 30 totaled $124,574,000, slightly higher than the $123,560,000 recorded in the second quarter of 1995. Noland's overall gross margin of profit for the second quarter remained the same as the year-earlier period's, leading to an operating profit of $2,468,000, 3.8 percent less than a year ago. (Staff) by CNB