Business news in brief

Drugmaker Pfizer Inc., which is based in Manhattan and has Philadelphia-area operations, said cost reductions helped raise its second-quarter net income by 25 percent, despite a 79 percent drop in revenue from the cholesterol drug Lipitor. Once the world's best-selling drug, Lipitor lost patent protection (and exclusivity) at the end of November 2011, opening the field to generic competition. Lipitor brought $1.4 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2011, but only $296 million in the same period in 2012. Total revenue was down 9 percent to $15.06 billion. Pfizer also said it planned to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission by mid-August for a potential initial public offering of up to a 20 percent ownership stake in its animal health unit, to be named Zoetis. Pfizer previously indicated it planned eventually to spin off the whole new company. - David Sell

On Tuesday, IKEA officially plugged in rooftop solar arrays at three regional facilities - stores in Conshohocken and South Philadelphia, plus its U.S. service center in Conshohocken. The arrays have a total of 9,198 panels and are expected to generate 2,654,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, equal to powering 228 homes. The savings in carbon dioxide emissions is expected to be the equivalent of removing 359 cars from the road. IKEA has now installed solar at 29 of its U.S. facilities, with installations under way at 10 more, it said. - Sandy Bauers

SEPTA is staging a three-day "hack-athon" for local computer programmers to develop online applications to help transit riders. The program is designed to bring local tech talent to bear on ways to improve SEPTA's communication with its passengers. The event will be held Friday through Sunday at Devnuts, 908 N. Third St. More information is available at http://appsforsepta.org. - Paul Nussbaum

The Federal Home Finance Agency said it would not allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to use targeted principal reductions in their loan modification programs for borrowers at risk of foreclosure. FHFA acting director Edward DeMarco had been under considerable pressure by the Obama administration and consumer groups to authorize principal writedown, which many experts consider a way to prevent more foreclosures. Opponents said it would encourage irresponsibility among borrowers. - Alan J. Heavens

Two of Europe's largest financial institutions reported that profit plunged in the second quarter as the banking industry continues to struggle with the European debt crisis. Deutsche Bank of Germany and UBS of Switzerland both were hit by drops in trading activity, which weighed on the firms' investment banking units. The banks warned that continued market volatility related to the crisis would most likely affect future growth. Deutsche Bank's net income fell 46 percent, to $811 million, during the second quarter of 2011. UBS' profit declined to $435 million, a 58 percent drop. UBS also was pinched by a $357 million loss related to the botched Facebook initial public offering. Deutsche Bank said that it was cutting 1,900 jobs in an effort to raise profitability. - N.Y. Times News Service

Federal regulators are urging Congress to require fuller disclosure and stricter standards for the $3.7 trillion municipal securities market to help protect investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a report after reviewing the market for bonds and other securities used to finance schools, roads and hospitals around the country. Despite its size and importance, the SEC says, the municipal securities market isn't as closely regulated as other parts of the financial markets because it enjoys exemptions under federal law. About three-quarters of the $3.7 trillion in municipal securities are held by individual investors through mutual funds and other investments. - AP

The number of people unemployed in the 17 countries that use the euro hit a record high in June, official figures showed. Eurostat, the European Union's statistics office, said 17.80 million people were out of work in the eurozone in June. That was 123,000 more than May, and is the highest level since the euro was formed in 1999. The increase was the 14th in a row; about 2.25 million people have lost their jobs since April 2011. Despite the increase, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in June was unchanged at a record 11.2 percent. Without Germany's relatively low unemployment rate of 5.4 percent, the wider figures would be much worse. Eurozone unemployment is three percentage points higher than the U.S. rate of 8.2 percent. - AP

Facebook Inc. shares dropped 6.2 percent to a record low, the third straight day of declines after the social-networking service reported second-quarter results that showed slowing growth. Shares slumped to $21.71, the lowest closing price since Facebook held an initial public offering on May 17. Facebook disappointed investors last week when it reported sales growth of 32 percent, down from 45 percent in the first quarter, and refrained from providing a sales or profit outlook for the year. Facebook also posted slower user growth and is grappling with concerns about how well it can boost advertising on mobile devices. - Bloomberg News

Microsoft Corp. will introduce a new, free Web-based e-mail portal under its Outlook brand and phase out Hotmail over time as it seeks to draw users from Google Inc.'s Gmail. A preview of the new service was going online Tuesday and Hotmail probably would be phased out in the next year, said Brian Hall, a general manager in Microsoft's Windows group. By going with Outlook, Microsoft is trying to capitalize on the brand behind the most-used corporate e-mail service, sold as part of its Office suite. While Hotmail is the world's most popular Web-based e-mail provider, it has lost ground in the United States to Google and Yahoo! Inc. as well as other, newer methods of communication, such as social media. - Bloomberg News

News Corp. is laying off nearly a third of its staff at the Daily, the digital-only news publication championed by company founder Rupert Murdoch. It will cut 50 of its roughly 170 employees and focus resources on its more popular features. It says the move reflects the "changing business environment for news and media." The Daily will stop reporting on sports and instead use content from partners such as Fox Sports. The Daily charges 99 cents a week, or $40 a year. It's available only for mobile devices. - AP