Business news in brief

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said yesterday that it had received final approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell a generic version of Novartis AG's Famvir, a treatment for genital herpes. Teva - which is based in Petah Tikva, Israel, and has North American headquarters in North Wales, Pa. - said it won't begin selling the drug until a U.S. judge in Newark, N.J., rules on a Novartis request to block the generic drug until a patent-infringement trial is held. A hearing on the issue is scheduled for Sept. 5. Famvir, which contains the active ingredient famciclovir, had sales of $200 million for the 12 months ended June 30, Teva said, citing figures from market researcher IMS Health. Novartis, of Basel, Switzerland, contends that Teva's version of Famvir would infringe a patent expiring in 2010.

- Bloomberg News

Arris S. Veronie was named chief executive officer of Friends Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia, effective Sept. 13. He succeeds Gloria Zankowski, who was CEO for 18 months and resigned in July. Veronie has been chief financial officer of the Temple University Hospital-Episcopal Campus for two years. Before that, he was chief financial officer for five years at Friends Hospital, a private psychiatric hospital on Roosevelt Boulevard.

- Linda Loyd

Tribune Co. said revenue fell 5.9 percent last month on a continuing tailspin in sales of classified advertising that resulted in an even steeper decline in its newspaper division. The company - whose properties include the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and 23 television stations - said consolidated revenue for the period ended Aug. 5 slipped to $467 million from $496 million a year ago. Shares in the company fell 23 cents to $28.75 yesterday.

- AP

Former Rambus Inc. chief executive officer Geoff Tate and three other former executives will pay $6.5 million to resolve claims over misdated employee stock-options grants, the company said. Tate resigned from the board in August because he was the sole member of the company's committee that made option grants. He was Rambus CEO from 1990 to 2005. David Siegel, a lawyer for Tate, didn't immediately reply to a message seeking comment. The company, whose chip designs are used in Sony Corp.'s PlayStation game consoles, announced in July that an examination of grants found accounting controls were flawed, making financial reports since 2003 unreliable.

- Bloomberg News

Burger King Holdings Inc. posted a profit for the fourth quarter versus a loss a year earlier, fueled by strong late-night and breakfast sales and energetic promotional campaigns. The results came as the chain completed its first year as a publicly traded company. Burger King earned $36 million, or 26 cents a share, for the three months ended June 30 versus a loss of $10 million, or 8 cents a share, a year ago. Sales rose 11 percent, to $590 million from $533 million. Burger King's latest results include a $7 million charge related to the termination of its lease for a new headquarters. Last year's fourth-quarter results were hurt by a $30 million management-termination fee related to its initial public offering in May 2006. Shares of Burger King closed yesterday down 86 cents, or 3.5 percent, at $24.06.

- AP

Nokia Corp. said a Japanese supplier would meet all costs stemming from a warning this month about faulty cell-phone batteries. Nokia advised customers Aug. 14 that up to 46 million batteries used in some of its handsets could pose a risk of overheating. The advisory applied to Nokia BL-5C batteries made by Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. between December 2005 and November 2006. Matsushita estimated that replacing the batteries would cost $85 million to $170 million.

- AP

Investment fund Steel Partners said it obtained only about 1.9 percent of the outstanding shares in a Japanese sauce-maker in its bid to take over the company. The poor reception to Steel Partners' bid for Bull-Dog Sauce Co. highlights the uphill battle activist funds face in Japan, where takeovers have long been frowned upon in a business environment that shuns heated showdowns in favor of consensual management. Steel Partners Japan Strategic Fund, one of the most visible funds aggressively investing in Japan, said the results of the tender offer that closed Thursday showed that Bull-Dog shareholders agreed to sell only 1.32 million, or 1.89 percent, of the company's total outstanding shares. Steel Partners will buy all those shares, bringing its stake to about 4.44 percent. Steel Partners is a major shareholder in SL Industries, Mount Laurel.

- Bloomberg News

H.J. Heinz Co. said its fiscal first-quarter earnings grew 6 percent, driven by double-digit gains in ketchup, beans, soups and Smart Ones meals, and the Pittsburgh ketchup-maker raised its outlook for the full year. Net income rose to $205.3 million, or 63 cents a share, from $194.1 million, or 58 cents a share, a year ago. Sales climbed 9 percent, to $2.25 billion for the quarter ended Aug. 1 from $2.06 billion in the prior-year period. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected a profit of 63 cents a share on revenue of $2.23 billion. Heinz increased its full-year outlook to be near the top of its previously announced range of $2.54 to $2.60 a share. Analysts are forecasting a profit of $2.60 a share, on average.

- AP

AnnTaylor Stores Corp., the clothing retailer geared toward women 25 to 55, reported a second-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates. The stock rose more than 9 percent yesterday. Net income dropped 27 percent to $31.7 million, or 50 cents a share, for a third straight quarterly decline, on markdowns at its two chains, AnnTaylor said. A profit of 48 cents a share was the average of 15 analyst projections compiled by Bloomberg. They anticipated sales of $624.7 million. A stock-repurchase program boosted per-share profit by 3 cents, helping the company exceed analysts' estimates. The retailer is trying to blunt sluggish sales at its biggest unit, Loft, which sells more casual attire. AnnTaylor is betting that reduced inventory and more colorful, print and wear-to-work clothing at Loft's 483 stores will boost earnings in the second half. It also plans to open a new women's chain next year. Company shares rose $2.79 yesterday to close at $32.43.

- Bloomberg News

A French court postponed a ruling on an injunction to prevent a $40.8 billion takeover of Arcelor SA by Mittal Steel Co., an Arcelor minority shareholder said. Mittal has operations in Coatesville and Conshohocken. The ruling was rescheduled for Monday afternoon - two hours after a Dutch court is set to rule on a similar request for an injunction against the buyout. Arcelor and Mittal representatives declined to comment.

- AP