Business news in brief

Shares of

Neose Technologies Inc.

closed up yesterday, after it announced that it had signed agreements to sell its assets to

Novo Nordisk A/S

and

BioGeneriX AG

for $43 million in cash. Neose is a Horsham biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutic proteins. Novo Nordisk and BioGeneriX already were partners with Neose. The company was founded in 1990 on technologies developed at the University of Pennsylvania. The company had been under pressure and faced delisting on the Nasdaq because of its falling share price. Neose shares closed up 5 cents, or nearly 22 percent, at 28 cents yesterday.

- Miriam Hill

Rohm & Haas Co.

declared a "force majeure" involving its Houston-area plants affected by Hurricane Ike last weekend. The Philadelphia chemical company said it was unable to determine when it would resume production of acrylate, methacrylate, and specialty monomer products at its Bayport and Deer Park plants because of disruptions the storm caused among suppliers and distributors. Rohm & Haas said that the plants needed only minor repairs and cleanup work but that production would depend on obtaining raw materials and energy resources. The force majeure designation excuses the company from liability for not delivering products to customers because of an event beyond its control. Manufacturers typically include force majeure clauses in contracts with customers.

- Paul Schweizer

Radian Group Inc.

, Philadelphia, said it completed the previously announced transfer of money from its bond-insurance unit to its mortgage-insurance business, a move that allowed it to boost its capital base without diluting shareholders. The transfer included a $960 million surplus from the bond-insurance unit. Overall, the transfer added about $3 billion to the amount of money Radian's mortgage-insurance unit has to pay claims, the company said. Radian also said it increased its stake in

Sherman Financial Group L.L.C.

to 29 percent from 22 percent. The servicer of distressed debt paid Radian $19.5 million in dividends in the first half of the

year.

- Harold Brubaker

Charming Shoppes Inc.

said it completed the sale of its "noncore" misses-apparel catalogs to

Golden Gate Capital Corp.

for $35 million in cash. The move is part of a strategy to focus on the Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug and Catherines brands,

the Bensalem company said in a statement.

- Bloomberg News

Constellation Energy Group Inc.

, the nation's largest seller of wholesale power whose stock has collapsed amid worries about liquidity and accounting issues, agreed to be bought by a unit of Warren Buffett's

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

for $4.7 billion.

MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.

, based in Des Moines, Iowa, will pay $26.50 a share in cash for the Baltimore utility, well off its 52-week high of $107.97 reached Jan. 8. The shares had traded as high as $67.87 last week before hitting a low of $13 Tuesday. The shares closed down 57

cents, or 2.30 percent, at $24.20

yesterday.

- AP

Oracle Corp.

, the software-maker, said first-quarter profit advanced 28 percent as clients bought more products and renewed contracts for product support. First-quarter profit rose to $1.08 billion, or 21 cents a share, from $840 million, or 16 cents a share, a year earlier, Oracle said in a statement. Including deferred revenue from acquired companies, sales climbed 18 percent to $5.42 billion, in line with the average estimate compiled by Bloomberg.

- Bloomberg News

A group of Italian investors withdrew a bid to buy

Alitalia S.p.A.

after six of its nine unions failed to back a rescue plan, a move that edged Italy's national carrier closer to failure. Italian Premier

Silvio Berlusconi

laid the blame on the unions that refused to sign off on an industrial plan that would have seen the Italian investors inject $1.4 billion into the bankrupt airline, retain its profitable assets, and combine them with smaller

Air One

.

- AP

Delta Air Lines Inc.

said it expected to end the year with slightly less cash on hand than previously forecast. The Atlanta company updated investors on its financial situation before an analyst conference in New York at which president and chief financial officer

Ed Bastian

spoke. At the conference, Bastian said Delta expected its third-quarter results to be in the range of break-even toward a modest loss. He did not offer specific figures. In June, the company forecast it would end the year with $3.2 billion in liquidity, including the credit line, which at that time it had not yet tapped.

- AP

The parent of

American Airlines

said that a key revenue measurement was rising and that its fuel bill was falling. Separately, parent

AMR Corp.

said it netted $294 million by selling 27.1 million new shares of stock and said the money would go for "general corporate purposes." AMR had signaled the sales in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last month. American said it expected third-quarter revenue per mile flown by paying customers to rise between 9.5 percent and 10.5 percent from a year earlier.

- AP

Carnival Corp.

, the cruise operator, beat analysts' third-quarter profit expectations and raised its 2008 guidance, although signs of weakness in advance bookings worried some analysts and investors. Carnival's quarterly profit dipped 3 percent, a smaller decline than Wall Street anticipated, because of lower-than-expected cruise costs and an insurance gain related to Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Net income for the quarter ended Aug. 31 fell to $1.33 billion, or $1.65 a share, from $1.38 billion, or $1.67 a share, a year earlier as higher fuel prices cost the Miami company 28 cents a share. Revenue gained 11 percent, to $4.81 billion from $4.32 billion a year earlier, as North American brands were helped by strong demand for Caribbean cruises.

- AP