Business news in brief

Universal Health Services Inc., a national hospital company based in King of Prussia, said yesterday that adjusted net income for the fourth quarter of 2007 rose 22 percent to $39.6 million, or 74 cents per share, from $32.4 million, or 60 cents per share, in the 2006 quarter. Adjusted net income for calendar 2007 was $164.3 million, or $3.07 per share, compared with $157.3 million, or $2.79 per share, in 2006. The company said the operating margin was 13.9 percent at its acute-care hospitals and 23.4 percent at its behavioral-health facilities during the fourth quarter of 2007. Both margins were up slightly from the previous year.

- Stacey Burling

Citizens, a U.S. arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland with a large operation in Pennsylvania, reported a decline in profit last year as difficult economic conditions caused loan losses to more than double, to $682 million from $333 million. Operating profit at Citizens, which has branches in 13 states, fell 9 percent, to $2.65 billion in 2007 from $3.25 billion in 2006. A 13 percent increase in commercial lending was a bright spot for Citizens, which saw its total assets decline slightly to $161.1 billion.

- Harold Brubaker

RAIT Financial Trust lost $379.34 million, or $6.26 per share, last year, driven by $517.45 million in asset impairments related primarily to securities issued by residential mortgage lenders and homebuilders. In 2006, the Philadelphia real estate investment trust earned $67.84 million, or $2.32 per share. The company, which invests in and manages commercial and residential mortgages and other assets, said its book value per share was $6.78 on Dec. 31, down from $20.54 a year earlier. In trading on the New York Stock Exchange, RAIT's shares closed down 25 cents, or 3.1 percent, at $7.90. A year ago they were worth more than $30 each.

- Harold Brubaker

Leesport Financial Corp. said it would unveil its new corporate name, VIST Financial, on Monday. The Wyomissing, Pa., financial-services company's seven businesses include Philadelphia Financial Mortgage of Blue Bell. Leesport, founded in 1891, also has two banks, Leesport Bank and Madison Bank, with offices in Berks and southern Schuylkill Counties. The new name stands for vision, integrity, solutions and trust, the company said.

- Paul Schweizer

Met-Pro Corp., Harleysville, reported strong increases in revenue and net income for the 2007 fourth quarter. Revenue rose 29 percent, to $29.3 million from $22.7 million in the same quarter last year. The manufacturing company's profit soared 78 percent in the quarter, which ended Jan. 31, to $3.2 million from $1.8 million in the year-before quarter. Earnings per share rose to 21 cents from 12 cents a year ago. The company said its backlog of orders as of Jan. 31 fell to $16.8 million from $29.5 million a year ago. However, the backlog does not include goods shipped within the quarter that they are ordered - an increasing part of the company's business as it delivers products more quickly, chief executive Raymond J. De Hont said. Met-Pro sells product-recovery and pollution-control technologies for purification of air and liquids, fluid-handling technologies, and filtration and purification technologies. Its shares closed up 40 cents, or 3.8 percent, at $11.08 in New York Stock Exchange trading.

- Paul Schweizer

Tasty Baking Co. said high costs drove fourth-quarter income down 93.8 percent from a year earlier. The Philadelphia bakery squeezed out a profit of $99,000, or 1 cent per share, on net sales of $39.3 million for the three months that ended Dec. 29, compared with profit of $1.6 million, or 19 cents per share, on net sales of $40.9 million a year earlier. "We faced significant challenges as industry-wide commodity-cost increases continued and negatively impacted gross margin" in the quarter, Charles P. Pizzi, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. Shares closed yesterday down 30 cents, or 4.4 percent, at $6.60 on the Nasdaq market.

- Reid Kanaley

Merck & Co. Inc. said it would not exercise an option to sell its interests in several non proton pump inhibitor drugs owned by AstraZeneca P.L.C., such as Atacand and Lexxel. AztraZeneca, which has its U.S. headquarters in Wilmington, now has an option to buy Merck's share in the non proton pump inhibitors in the first half of 2010 and acquire Merck's interest in its proton pump inhibitors, including Nexium, in 2012. Merck, of Whitehouse Station, N.J., said the move did not affect its profit guidance.

- Karl Stark

Gov. Rendell announced state assistance totaling $692,000 to support the expansion in Philadelphia of Cintas Corp., a uniform supplier, and Digitas Health, which says it is the largest advertising agency in Philadelphia. Rendell said Cintas would get a $75,000 opportunity grant to help with its $14.8 million project. It is building a 58,000-square-foot laundry-processing facility at 4700 Jefferson St. and plans to create 150 jobs. Digitas says it will hire an additional 139 employees, with an average salary of $70,000, as it moves from Rittenhouse Square to larger space in Center City. The state is giving Digitas a $200,000 opportunity grant and $417,000 in job-creation tax credits for the $4 million expansion project.

- Stacey Burling

Abington Bancorp Inc., Jenkintown, boosted its quarterly dividend by half a penny, to 5 cents per share. The new dividend is payable March 26 to shareholders of record at the close of business March 12.

- Harold Brubaker

A rogue trader at MF Global Ltd. rang up $141.5 million in losses on the broker's account this week, the company said yesterday, costing MF almost a fifth of its market value. The Bermuda-based broker said Wednesday that it had discovered Evan Dooley, a trader at the company's Memphis, Tenn., branch, trading wheat contracts in amounts that exceeded the sum he was allowed. MF Global fired Dooley and liquidated the wheat contracts, which led to a $141.5 million loss. Attempts to locate an Evan Dooley in the Memphis area for comment were unsuccessful.

- AP

Freddie Mac said its loss widened to $2.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007 as mortgage defaults mounted and falling interest rates hurt certain investments. Despite expectations of further losses this year and next, the company's chief financial officer said Freddie, which buys and backs home loans, would not need to raise additional capital unless "things dramatically deteriorate." The fourth-quarter loss at Freddie Mac was much larger than Wall Street had expected and compared with a loss of $401 million in the same period a year earlier. If not for an accounting change, the company said its fourth-quarter loss would have been $3.7 billion.

- AP