By MarketWatch Somaxon jumps on Procter & Gamble pact
(8:00 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Somaxon Pharmaceuticals Inc. [S: somx] shares jumped $1.13, or 34%, in pre-market trades on Wednesday after the San Diego company said it inked a pact with Procter & Gamble /quotes/comstock/13*!pg/quotes/nls/pg (PG 59.66, -0.37, -0.62%) to market its insomnia drug, Silenor (doxepin). As part of the deal, Somaxon granted Procter & Gamble a right of first negotiation to develop and market Silenor as an over-the-counter medication in the U.S.
Toll Brothers swings to profit; revenue up
(5:26 AM ET) TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Toll Brothers Inc., /quotes/comstock/13*!tol/quotes/nls/tol (TOL 16.19, -0.01, -0.06%) the Horsham, Pa., luxury-home builder, swung to fiscal third-quarter profit from a year-earlier loss on 1.6% lower revenue. For the quarter ended July 31, Toll Brothers earned $27.3 million, or 16 cents a share, compared with a loss of $472.3 million, or $2.93, in the year-earlier period. Revenue was $454.2 million against $461.4 million. A survey of analysts by FactSet produced consensus estimates of a loss of 14 cents a share on revenue of $392.9 million. In the quarter, Toll delivered 803 homes, up 1%. Net signed contracts fell 11% in dollars and 16% in number of homes. But on a comparative basis, net signed contracts rose to 3.69 units per community that Toll operates from 3.56 in the year-earlier quarter. At July 31, the backlog in both dollar terms and number of homes was up 1% versus a year earlier.
Admiral profit up 20% as customers numbers grow
(2:51 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. car insurer Admiral /quotes/comstock/23s!e:adm (UK:ADM 1,521, +48.00, +3.26%) said Wednesday that its first-half net profit rose 20% to 90.3 million pounds ($139.4 million) as net revenue grew 22% to 296.4 million pounds. The group said it increased premium rates by around 14% in the first half of the year and also increased customer numbers by 23% compared to a year earlier. Admiral lifted its interim dividend by 18% to 32.6 pence a share and said it will pay a 1,500 pound bonus in stock to each of its 4,000 employees.
Aggreko lifts dividend as profit grows 22%
(2:45 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Aggreko /quotes/comstock/23s!a:agk (UK:AGK 1,390, -39.00, -2.73%) , a supplier of temporary power and temperature control equipment, said Wednesday that its first-half net profit rose 22% to 87.4 million pounds ($134.9 million) as revenue grew 17% to 583.6 million pounds. The group said its performance was underpinned by major contracts for the Vancouver Winter Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. Aggreko also said it would increase both its interim and final dividend by 50%. "We believe that we will make further good progress in the second half and that the outcome for the year as a whole will be slightly better than our previous expectations," said Chairman Philip Rogerson.
BHP Billiton 2010 profit $12.72 billion
(2:38 AM ET) HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- BHP Billiton /quotes/comstock/13*!bhp/quotes/nls/bhp (BHP 64.94, -0.48, -0.73%) /quotes/comstock/22x!e:bhp (AU:BHP 37.44, -0.10, -0.27%) said Wednesday its net profit for the 2010 fiscal year totaled $12.72 billion, more than double the year-earlier figure of $5.88 billion, bolstered by record sales volumes of iron ore, metallurgical coal and petroleum. Revenue for the year ended in June was $52.8 billion, a 5.2% rise from the previous year's $50.21 billion. BHP said it "remains cautious on the short-term outlook for the global economy," citing policy tightening in China and uncertainty over fiscal policies around the world. The board also declared a final dividend of 45 U.S. cents, bringing the dividend payout for the full year to 87 U.S. cents, a 6.1% rise from a year ago.
Ageas profit down 49%, inflows rise
(2:37 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Belgian insurance group Ageas /quotes/comstock/24s!e:ags (BE:AGS 2.01, +0.06, +3.08%) , the former insurance arm of Fortis, said Wednesday that its first-half net profit fell 49% to 455 million euros ($576 million). Net profit from its insurance operations, which excludes gains and losses from a call option it holds on BNP Paribas /quotes/comstock/24s!e:bnp (FR:BNP 49.52, -1.05, -2.08%) shares and other one-off items, fell 31% to 180.5 million euros. The result was partly due to a one-off tax benefit in its Belgian operations a year earlier, as well as lower profit in the U.K., which was offset by a stronger result from its Asian operations. The group said inflows in the first half were 22% higher than a year earlier at 9.6 billion euros.
Tullow Oil profit more than doubles
(2:25 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Tullow Oil /quotes/comstock/23s!e:tlw (UK:TLW 1,212, -85.00, -6.55%) said Wednesday that its first half net profit more than doubled to $81.7 million from $31.6 million a year earlier as revenue grew 11% to $485.9 million. The group said production fell 6% in the period to 55,800 barrels of oil equivalent per day and sales volumes were down 17%, however the average realized price per barrel jumped 45% to $77. "Tullow has continued to make strong progress in the first half of 2010. Our exploration and development programmes are delivering excellent results with significant new oil discoveries being made in both Ghana and Uganda and first oil from Jubilee expected before year-end," said CEO Aidan Heavey. The firm is expecting production for the year to be between 57,000 and 58,000 barrels a day.
Heineken's first-half profit rises 42%
(2:05 AM ET) FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Beer giant Heineken N.V. /quotes/comstock/24s!e:heia (NL:HEIA 34.95, +0.19, +0.53%) said Wednesday its first-half net profit rose 42% to 695 million euros ($881 million) from 489 million euros in the same period a year ago, buoyed by positive exceptional items. Revenue increased 5.2% to 7.52 billion euros. Group beer volume fell 2.3% organically hurt by the weak economic environment and the effect of excise duty increases; those effects were partly offset by strong growth in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Trading conditions remained challenging in Europe and the U.S., Heineken said. "For the near term, Heineken remains cautious on the development of beer consumption in Europe and the USA due to continued weak consumer spending and planned austerity measures across many countries," the firm said. "Volume in Latin America, Africa and Asia is expected to continue to grow."
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