News Archive

Manufacturing news

July 2004

Schering-Plough pleads guilty to kickback charge, pays $52.5 million fine

Drugmaker Schering-Plough announced that it has reached an settlement agreement with the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the US Department of Justice to settle an investigation of the company's managed care marketing programs.
30 Jul 2004 18:39

Initial unemployment filings jump

First-time unemployment filings rose 4,000 to 345,000 for the week ending July 24, the US Department of Labor reported today.
29 Jul 2004 18:29

Wages and benefits up slightly for US workers

US workers saw wages and benefits rise by a modest 0.9 percent in the second quarter of this year. This is down from the 1.1 percent increase seen in the first quarter.
29 Jul 2004 18:23

Boeing earns more than expected

Things are looking up at Boeing Co., the nation’s largest aerospace company, which posted better-than-expected profits of $607 million in the second quarter and raised its earnings estimate for the next year.
28 Jul 2004 20:32

New orders increase due to military equipment boom

New orders for manufactured durable goods in June increased $1.4 billion, or 0.7 percent, to $191.7 billion, the US Census Bureau of the US Department of Commerce reported today.
28 Jul 2004 16:32

DuPont takes charge, profits drop 25 percent

Quarterly profits dropped even as sales rose at the nation’s second-largest chemicals maker, DuPont Co., due mostly to charges incurred by job cuts, the sale of its fibers business, and a class-action lawsuit.
27 Jul 2004 15:22

Lockheed Martin reports earnings spike

Defense contractor Lockheed Martin reported its earnings rose to $296 million, up from $242 million one year earlier, a 22 percent rise in quarterly net earnings.
27 Jul 2004 16:50

Mylan Laboratories to buy King Pharmaceuticals in $4 billion deal

Mylan Laboratories, the largest generic drugmaker in the United States, has announced that it will acquire drugmaker King Pharmaceuticals Inc. for about $4 billion in stock.
26 Jul 2004 15:45

Profits nearly triple for Boston Scientific

Medical device maker Boston Scientific Corp.’s profits almost tripled in the second quarter, rising to $313 million on strong sales of its new Taxus drug-coated heart stent.
26 Jul 2004 15:04

Paccar profits up 91 percent

Paccar, the number-two truck manufacturer in the United States, today reported a 91 percent profit hike in its second quarter.
23 Jul 2004 16:01

Caterpillar Profits from Rising Demand

Earnings at CaterpillarInc. rose 38 percent to $552 million in the second quarter, driven by growing global demand for its heavy machinery and engines. The company also raised its sales and earnings outlook for the year.
22 Jul 2004 18:12

Coors and Molson to merge

US brewing company Adolph Coors Company and Canadian brewing company Molson today announced plans to merge, which will create the fifth-largest brewing company in the world by volume, with expected annual revenues of $6 billion.
22 Jul 2004 16:54

Colgate-Palmolive earnings, sales up

Soap and toothpaste manufacturer Colgate-Palmolive reported second-quarter earnings of $373.9 million, up four percent from $359.8 million one year previously, despite stiff competition from Procter and Gamble and weak sales of its Simply White tooth whitener.
21 Jul 2004 15:57

General Motors gains profits, loses market share

Profits rose a dramatic 49 percent in the second quarter for General Motors Corp., the world’s largest automaker, although its global and North American market share declined. Record earnings at its financial services unit helped balance losses in the European automotive sector.
21 Jul 2004 16:27

Merck records 1 percent drop in profit

Merck & Co. announced a 1 percent drop in second quarter profit. The company cites increased production and R&D costs for the dip.
21 Jul 2004 16:18

Airbus lands $7 billion Gulf deal

European aircraft maker Airbus announced today that it has secured a major order from Etihad Airways for 24 planes, beating out rival Boeing Corp. Etihad is based in Abu Dhabi.
20 Jul 2004 16:54

Ford doubles profits

Ford, the second-largest automaker in the United States and the third-largest in the world reported a second-quarter net income of $1.2 billion, up from $417 million during the same period one year earlier.
20 Jul 2004 16:31

Kraft Foods earnings plunge

Foods manufacturing leader Kraft Foods reported that it earned $698 million in the second quarter, down from $949 million one year earlier.
19 Jul 2004 21:47

Mitsubishi to cut Illinois production

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has announced that production will be cut at its Normal, Illinois facility. The degree to which the company will scale back output will not be announced until September.
19 Jul 2004 15:42

Delphi Corp. turns up revenues

Auto electronics maker Delphi Corp. reported revenues of $7.5 million for the second quarter of 2004. This was up 6 percent compared with the same quarter last year.
16 Jul 2004 16:03

Hasbro earnings jump, revenue drops

Hasbro, the second-largest toy manufacturer in the United States, reported second-quarter earnings of $18.8 million, a large increase from its $11.4 million earnings in the same period one year ago.
16 Jul 2004 17:09

Job cuts rumored at Sony/BMG

The proposed merger between Sony Music and BMG could result in up to 2,000 job cuts by next June, a British newspaper reported today.
16 Jul 2004 16:42

Earnings growth at Apple

Apple Computer Inc. reported that earnings for the three months ended June 26th came in at a total of $61 million, compared to $19 million the same time last year.
15 Jul 2004 16:38

Finished goods prices down

The US Labor Department reported today that the Producer Price Index for Finished Goods declined 0.3 percent overall in June, although the index revealed a 0.2 percent gain when energy and foods were excluded from the data.
15 Jul 2004 14:50

PepsiCo earnings up, despite drop in high-carb foods sales

Beverage manufacturing giant PepsiCo earned $1.06 billion in its second quarter, up 12 percent from its earnings of $944 million during the same period one year ago.
15 Jul 2004 16:31

Chrysler orders more Delphi satellite radios

Delphi Corp., a mobile audio electronics manufacturer based in Troy, MI, announced today that it has received a major order from Chrysler Group to make factory-installed satellite radio receivers for 11 new Dodge, Chrysler, and Jeep vehicle models.
14 Jul 2004 16:01

Harley-Davidson earnings up

Motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson reported second-quarter earnings of $247.2 million, up from $202.2 million in the same period a year earlier, a 22 percent rise.
14 Jul 2004 16:11

Haworth bring jobs to Michigan

Haworth, Inc. has announced that they will create 200 new manufacturing and logistics jobs in west Michigan within the next six months.
14 Jul 2004 16:07

Agricultural equipment sales on the rise

US sales of agricultural equipment will rise significantly in the next two years, according to a semiannual report released today by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).
13 Jul 2004 16:22

Johnson & Johnson sees quarterly growth

Johnson & Johnson has reported sales of $11.5 billion for the second quarter, an increase of 11.1 percent over last year.
13 Jul 2004 14:49

Trade gap narrows amid record imports

The US trade gap in May narrowed for the first time in six months to $46 billion, as overall imports increased to a record $143.1 billion.
13 Jul 2004 16:00

Nabi expands biopharm facility

Nabi Biopharmaceuticals announced today that it has initiated construction of a state-of-the-art bulk vaccine manufacturing facility at the company's biopharmaceutical complex in Boca Raton, FL.
12 Jul 2004 15:54

Novellus Systems profits up

Semiconductor production equipment manufacturer Novellus Systems reported a profit in its second quarter of $37.8 million, a dramatic upsurge from its profit of $7.4 million one year earlier.
12 Jul 2004 21:33

GE reports revenue increase

General Electric announced a 3 percent increase in second quarter earnings today, with an 11 percent rise in revenue.
09 Jul 2004 15:15

Goodyear invests $50 million in Colombian plant

The world’s largest tire maker, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., announced today that it plans to increase its Latin American presence with a $50-million expansion at its manufacturing facility in Cali, Colombia. The plant produces radial medium truck tires.
09 Jul 2004 17:48

Alcoa reports record income

Aluminum maker Alcoa, Inc., is reporting its highest income ever for the quarter ended June 30th, at $404 million compared to $216 million in the same quarter last year.
08 Jul 2004 14:46

Unemployment reaches four-year low

The Labor Department reports that unemployment figures fell last week to a four-year low.
08 Jul 2004 14:36

Building Better Bombs

Raytheon Company's Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) opened of its new state-of-the-art Missile Defense Center in Woburn, MA yesterday.
07 Jul 2004 14:49

European carriers to buy Boeing 7E7s

The Boeing Company has announced an agreement for two European charter carriers, Blue Panorama of Italy and UK-based First Choice Airways, to purchase a total of ten of the company’s new 7E7 Dreamliners.
07 Jul 2004 14:14

NAM hates Edwards pick for veep

Jerry Jasinowski, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, today blasted John Kerry's pick for vis vice-presidential candidtate.
06 Jul 2004 17:48

Recall by DaimlerChrysler

DaimlerChrysler AG has announced that it will recall 20,000 cars due to safety concerns.
06 Jul 2004 17:06

Factory orders fell off in May

Factory orders declined by 0.3 percent for the month of May, according to the Commerce Department.
02 Jul 2004 15:29

June auto sales down

Automobile sales in the US dropped 2 percent in June compared to the same month last year, with General Motors and Ford Motor leading the decline, according to an Autodata report released today.
02 Jul 2004 15:21

Slowdown in job creation reported

The US Department of Labor today reported that only 112,000 jobs were created in June—a steep decline from job gains in recent months—while the manufacturing sector lost 11,000 jobs during the month.
02 Jul 2004 17:00

ConAgra Foods sees profit increase

Omaha, Nebraska-based ConAgra Foods Inc. posted a 41 percent profit increase for the company’s fourth quarter.
01 Jul 2004 14:12

Maytag factory strike could end soon

The end may be in sight for a strike at a Maytag Corp. factory in Newton, Iowa, which has been shut down since June 10th. The company reported today that it has reached a tentative agreement on a four-year labor contract with the local United Auto Workers union.
01 Jul 2004 18:05

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