EpiCept Corp., a biotech company based in Tarrytown, reported a net loss of $5.4 million, or 7 cents a share, during the fourth quarter. That compared to a net loss of $6.3 million, or 15 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenues of $100,000 rose from $23,000 a year earlier.

“The year 2008 was a challenging, pivotal and ultimately successful one for EpiCept,” Jack Talley, president and chief executive officer, said in a written statement. “In the second half of 2008, we secured European approval of (the leukemia treatment) Ceplene and initiated partnership dialogues with several companies interested in marketing this product. We are seeking to finalize negotiations and to launch Ceplene commercially as quickly as possible.”

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biotech company in Eastview, reported a net loss of $31.5 million, or 40 cents per share, during the fourth quarter. That compared to a net loss of $13.1 million, or 19 cents per share, a year earlier. Total revenues decreased to $55.8 million in the fourth quarter from $64.7 million a year earlier. Arcalyst, Regeneron’s only marketable drug, was approved last year for treatment of a rare auto-inflammatory condition known as CAPS. Regeneron said that it expects shipments of Arcalyst to exceed $20 million this year.

TAL International Group Inc., the Purchase-based company that leases freight containers to shippers, is feeling the effects of a slumping global economy in which manufactuers around the world are exporting fewer goods.

Chief Executive Officer Brian M. Sondey said that a respectable performance in the first nine months of 2008 deteriorated in the fourth quarter with a sharp drop in economic activity and global trade corresponding to the worsening global financial crisis. The end result for TAL was a fourth-quarter loss.

The outlook was particularly bleak in November and December when “many of our shipping line customers reported substantial decreases in the volume of their container shipments, and this reduced level of trade has continued for the first two months of 2009,” Sondey said in a written statement.

TAL’s results provide a window into the health of a complex global trade system that moves products manufactured overseas to retailers. TAL’s fleet of more than 756,000 freight containers is leased to companies around the world that ship clothes, electronics, appliances, frozen foods, building products, machinery and other goods.

TAL specializes in what is known as intermodal containers that can be easily transferred between ships, rail lines or trucks to provide versatility for shippers.

The company reported a net loss of $15.3 million, or 47 cents a share, during the fourth quarter, compared to net income of $3.4 million, or 10 cents a share, a year earlier. Leasing revenues for the fourth quarter were $83.6 million compared to $77.5 million a year earlier.

Sondey said the outlook is uncertain this year.

“For the full year of 2009, our results will be highly dependent on how long global containerized trade volumes remain at depressed levels,” he said. “A sustained decrease in trade growth will lead to lower utilization, reduced revenue and higher operating expenses for 2009, but we are hopeful that these negative effects of the current market will be temporary.”

Profits more than doubled at Universal American Corp. during the fourth quarter as the Rye Brook-based health insurer benefited from enrollment gains in its Medicare health insurance plans and expansion in new markets.

Net income totaled $63.9 million, or 75 cents per share, during the quarter, up from net income of $30.3 million, or 33 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenues increased 12.9 percent to $1.1 billion.

A key part of Universal American’s growth has been its Medicare Part D business thart is covered under the federal government program that provides prescription drug benefits for senior citizens.

Another business, the company’s Medicare Advantage HMO health plans, posted an 18.6 percent growth in membership last year to 54,300 people. Membeship more than doubled in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Dallas, markets that the company has targeted for expansion.

Chief Executive Officer Richard Barasch said that 2008 was a challenging year for Universal American.

“Nevertheless, our core businesses, Medicare Advantage and Part D, posted record results in membership, revenues and earnings, and we believe that we are building the appropriate foundation to prosper in the new legislative and regulatory environment,” Barasch said in a written statement.

The company has not escaped fallout from the global financial crisis. The company disclosed last year that it had been hurt by exposure to troubled subprime mortgage investments and Lehman Brothers, the Manhattan-based investment bank that filed for bankruptcy in September. During the fourth quarter, Universal American reported realized investment losses of $3.4 million.

The Navigators Group Inc., a New York-based insurance holding company with offices in Rye Brook, reported net income of $10 million, or 59 cents a share, during the fourth quarter. That compared to net income of $26.5 million, or $1.55 per share, a year earlier.

The company said that its results were affected by losses related to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which caused major damage in several southern states last year. Navigators, also facing the impact of tough investment climate and the global fiancial crisis, also recorded net realized capital losses on equity securities and asset-backed securities.

The Center for Wound Healing Inc., a Tarrytown-based operator of wound care treatment centers, reported a net loss of $804,462 during its fiscal second quarter, compared to a net loss of $1.27 million a year earlier. Revenues climbed 17.1 percent to $7.6 million.

Chief Executive Officer Andrew G. Barnett said that the company has increased the number of daily treatments at its centers, opened two new centers in Pennsylvania and strengthened its credit agreement. The company manages 35 wound care centers in the eastern United States.

Vision-Sciences Inc., an Orangeburg-based maker of medical devices, reported a net loss of $3.06 million for its fiscal third quarter, or 8 cents a share. That compared to a net loss of $2 million, or 6 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenues surged 96 percent to $3.6 million. The company said that its operating loss reflected production start-up costs and marketing expenses related to new product launches and an expanded sales force.

Acadia Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust based in White Plains, reported a loss from continuing operations of 12 cents a share during the fourth quarter, compared to earnings of 9 cents a share a year earlier.

The company said that it had $117 million available through cash and credit agreements at the end of last year. Acadia, which focuses on buying and redeveloping neighborhood and community shopping centers in major urban and suburban markets, said that occupancy at its properties was 93.5 percent at the end of 2008.

In January, Acadia announced plans to buy Cortlandt Towne Center, a 640,000-square-foot regional shopping center, for $78 million.

“Given the significant turmoil in the capital markets and the unprecedented disruption of the economy and its affect on consumer spending, in 2008 we focused on maintaining the stability of our portfolio and strength of our balance sheet” Chief Executive Officer Kenneth F. Bernstein said in a written statement.

Shares of Nokia Oyj dropped 10 percent today after the world’s largest maker of mobile phones cut its dividend and reported weaker than expected profits in the midst of a global economic crisis that has eroded consumer purchases of its products.

Nokia also cut its forecast for 2009 with the economic crisis showing few signs of abating. The company said that it expects industry sales volumes of mobile phones will drop 10 percent this year, worse than an earlier forecast for a 5 percent decline. The company, based in Finland, operates a major U.S. office in Harrison.

“In recent weeks, the macroeconomic environment has deteriorated rapidly, with even weaker consumer confidence, unprecedented currency volatility and credit tightness continuing to impact the mobile communications industry,” Nokia Chief Executive Officer Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said in a written statement.

Nokia reported fourth-quarter net income of 576 million euros ($748 million). That was down from 1.84 billion euros ($2.4 billion), a year earlier. Revenue dropped 20 percent.
Nokia is expected to cut its 2008 dividend to 40 cents from 53 cents, marking the first dividend reduction in seven years.

Morningstar analyst Alex Dannin said that the fourth-quarter results showed that consumers are in no mood to spend. “The firm’s mobile devices business, which accounts for roughly 70 percent of total sales, experienced a unit volume decline of 15 percent from the year-ago quarter,” Dannin wrote in a research report. “Unit shipments declined in every geographic region and were especially pronounced in China and the Middle East and Africa, falling 36 percent and 23 percent, respectively, from last year.”

Nokia shares fell $1.41 to $12.30 in trading yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Provident New York Bancorp reported net income of $6.3 million, or 16 cents a share, during its fiscal first quarter. That was higher than the net income of $5.9 million, or 15 cents per share, a year earlier.

The Montebello-based company, the parent of Provident Bank, added that loans grew by $15.1 million, mainly in the commercial sector.

“I’m pleased to report solid earnings for the quarter despite the continuing economic challenges facing the Hudson Valley and the nation,” George Strayton, president and chief executive officer, said in a written statement.

The provision for loan loss was $2.5 million, up from $700,000 in the comparable quarter a year earlier. Strayton said that the housing downturn “continues to stress the construction loan portfolio” but charge-offs are concentrated in the community business sector of the loan portfolio.

PepsiCo Inc., the Purchase-based beverage and snack food giant, said that it expects that its reported earnings per share for 2008 will fall by 7 cents a share in response to the restructuring at Pepsi Bottling Group announced on Tuesday. Pepsi Bottling, the largest distributor of Pepsi products, said that the restrucuring will cut 3,150 jobs worldwide, including 30 to 40 at its Somers headquarters.

Hudson Valley Holding Corp. of Yonkers said that its earnings were lower than what it reported last month because of a setback on an investment security.

The actual earnings for the first nine months of the year were $25.4 million—- not the $26 million that the company reported in an earnings release on Oct. 20, Hudson Valley announced today. Earnings per share were $2.48 compared to $2.53 a year earlier.

The company is the parent of Hudson Valley Bank, which operates 28 branches in the region.

“Subsequent to our original announcement, while performing our standard quarter end review of our financial results, we received new information regarding one of our investment securities,” James J. Landy, president and chief executive officer, said in a written statement.

Because of an “unexpected impairment” in the security, the company has revalued the security and taken a pre-tax, non-cash charge of $1.06 million, according to Landy.

Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc., which has generic-drug research operations in Pomona, earned $31 million, or 28 cents a share, on revenues of $737 million in the third quarter.

A year earlier, the company earned $39 million, or 36 cents a share, on revenues of $602 million.

But the company said that by a different calculation – one that does not comply with generally accepted accounting principles – its adjusted earnings per share rose to 83 cents from 71 cents last year.

In July, Israeli drug giant Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., the world’s largest maker of generic drugs, announced plans to buy Barr, which has its Barr Laboratories Inc. subsidiary in Pomona.

Bruce L. Downey, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said sales of generic oral contraceptives in the United States were strong in this year’s third quarter.

He added: “We are pleased that we continued to make progress during the quarter toward completion of the acquisition of Barr by Teva, and we and Teva continue to anticipate completing this transaction prior to the end of the year.”

Barr shares were trading at $62.82, up 50 cents, at 9:40 a.m.

Jerry Gleeson
The Journal News
The parent company of Provident Bank in Montebello said it had higher profits and revenues for the fourth quarter and its full fiscal year, citing loan growth and more efficient operations.
The parent, Provident New York Bancorp, said that for the fourth quarter ending Sept. 30, it had net income of $6.5 million, or 17 cents a share, on net interest income of $25.5 million. For the comparable quarter a year earlier, it had net income of $5.15 million, or 13 cents a share, on net interest income of $22.2 million.
For fiscal 2008, it had net income of $23.8 million, or 61 cents a share, on net interest income of $95.3 million. for fiscal 2007, it had net income of $19.6 million, or 48 cents a share, on net interest income of $84.7 million.
Loans at Sept. 30 grew to $93.5 million, up 5.7 percent from the end of fiscal 2007. Growth was mainly in the commercial sector, the bank said.
The company charged off $1 million in the fourth quarter, compared to $812,000 in the third quarter and $910,000 for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007. It said it doesn’t originate subprime residential mortgages and doesn’t hold any preferred stock in government sponsored entities that needs to be written down.
Provident’s efficiency ratio improved. The ratio, a figure that reflects the amount of revenue that covers expenses, dropped from 70.1 percent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 to 63.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Reach Jerry Gleeson at jgleeson@lohud.com or 914-694-5026.

Purchase-based Nutrition 21 Inc., which markets nutritional supplements, lost $900,000, or a penny a share, during the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2008, the company said this morning.

That was an improvement over the fourth quarter of 2007, when the company lost $8.2 million, or 13 cents a share.

Revenues rose 2 percent to $11 million from $10.8 million.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — considered a good measure of a company’s underlying strength — were $800,0000. It was the first time the company had a positive number in more than three years.

Michael Zeher, the company’s president and chief executive, said in a statement released by the company: “The dramatic improvement in the operating results for the quarter reflects the considerable traction that is ongoing in the execution of our new business plan.”

He said the company has re-branded its products under the Iceland Health name, which has saved on promotional expenses.

Students who graduate from Pace University can expect to earn roughly the same as those who graduate from Ivy League colleges, putting Pace among the top 50 colleges in the nation, a survey of salaries has shown.

Pace graduates earn a starting median salary of $53,200, only a few thousand less than graduates of Yale University, according to a recent article in BusinessWeek.

Yale was number one on the list with a starting median salary of $59,100. Other schools listed along with Pace include Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and Columbia.

The article listed a mid-career median salary of $89,700 and top incomes of $187,000 for Pace graduates. Pace has campuses in Pleasantville, White Plains and Manhattan.

The BusinessWeek list was compiled from analysis on a report published by PayScale that lists Pace University as one of the “Best Northeastern Colleges in the U.S. by Salary Potential.”

Visit BusinessWeek Web site to view the Pace listing.