Progenics Pharmaceuticals of Eastview said this morning its $2.4 million second-quarter loss matched its loss from the second quarter of last year. On a per-share basis, the company lost 8 cents, compared to 9 cents last year.

Revenues grew to $28.6 million from $25.5 million.

The company said it earned a $15 million payment during the quarter when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its application to market the constipation drug Relistor, which is the company’s first commercial product. The company got a $9 million payment last year in connection with the drug application.

This year’s quarter also included $321,000 in royalties based on sales of the drug. The company recognized $42,000 of that as revenue during the quarter.

A retired U.S. Army general has joined the board of directors of ITT Corp. of White Plains. The company, which makes pumps, night-vision goggles for the military and other high-technology products, said retired Gen. Paul J. Kern, 63, the president and chief operating officer of AM General LLC of South Bend, Ind. and senior counselor to The Cohen Group in Washington, D.C. has joined the board, giving the company 10 directors.

Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc., the drug company that has operations in Pomona, earned $57 million, or 52 cents a share, in the second quarter, compared with a profit of $45 million, or 41 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenues rose to $779 million, from $634 million.

Barr, which is based in Montvale, N.J., has its Barr Laboratories Inc. subsidiary in Pomona.

But the future of the Pomona site is in question after the company announced last month that it plans to be acquired by Israeli manufacturer Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., the world’s largest maker of generic drugs, for stock and cash. The deal values Barr at $66.50 a share.

Teva will pay $7.46 billion and assume $1.5 billion in Barr debt.

Barr shares closed at $66.97 yesterday, up 13 cents.

Acorda Therapeutics Inc., the Hawthorne company that sells a drug for people with multiple sclerosis, said the 4 million shares that will be offered to the public will carry a price of $28.50 apiece. The shares are being offered by Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. as underwriter.

The company has granted the underwriter the option to buy an additional 600,000 shares at the offering price to cover any over-allotments.

Acorda, which markets Zanaflex, said it plans to use the money it makes from the offering to fund the filing of an application to sell Fampridine-SR and for the costs of marketing the drug, if it is approved. That drug is also for patients with multiple sclerosis.
The company will also use proceeds for other research and general corporate purposes.

Acorda shares were trading at $28.46 at 10:10 a.m., down $1.47.

Prestige Brands Holdings Inc., the Irvington company that markets Comet cleanser, Compound W wart remover and Prell shampoo, said this morning earnings in the first quarter of its fiscal 2008 dropped 6.5 percent to $7.8 million, or 16 cents a share.

Revenues in the quarter that ended in June dropped to $72.92 million from the $78.04 million reported for the first quarter of fiscal 2007.

The company said the decline was largely due to slumping sales of its wart treatment products. Earnings were also affected by the loss of the Little Remedies infant cough and cold medicines, which were withdrawn from the market last fall because of the medical community’s concerns about their safety.

Last year’s earnings were $8.3 million, or 17 cents a share.

Hudson Valley Holding Corp. of Yonkers, the parent company of Hudson Valley Bank, said it had lower profits for the first half of fiscal 2008, year over year.
The company had net income of $16.3 million, or $1.59 a share, compared to net income of $16.7 million, of $1.64 a share, in the first half of 2007. Chief Executive Officer James J. Landy said net loans increased $205.3 million, or 15.9 percent in the period, leading the company to increase its loan loss reserve.
As of June 30, assets were $2.3 billion, deposits were $1.7 billion and net loans were $1.5 billion.

Earnings at Gamco Investors Inc., the mutual fund company run by money manager Mario Gabelli, dropped nearly 20 percent to $14.46 million, or 51 cents a share, during the second quarter.

Assets under management — which is the investor money the company manages — were $28.3 billion at the end of the quarter. That was 7.5 percent lower than a year earlier and 1.3 percent lower than at the end of the first quarter, as the decline in the stock market took its toll.

In last year’s March-to-June period, Gamco earned $18 million, or 63 cents.

HomeGoods, the chain that sells home fashion items, will open a store in Nanuet Aug. 24. The 25,000-square-foot store is in the Rockland Plaza on Route 59. The store will be the company’s first in Rockland County. The company said it expects to hire 60 people for full-time and part-time jobs.

Noritz America Corp., which makes tankless water heaters, has a new, corporate headquarters for the Northeast region at 12 Skyline Drive in Hawthorne.

Hudson Technologies Inc., the Pearl River company that sells refrigerants and cleans refrigeration equipment, said this morning its second-quarter profit rose to $2.99 million, or 16 cents a share, from a loss of $1.62 million, or 6 cents a share, in 2007.

Revenues rose 16 percent to $13.09 million.

Kevin J. Zugibe, the chairman and chief executive of the company, said sales are usually higher in the first six months of the calendar year, as customers prepare for summer. A key factor that caused revenues to grow in the first half of 2008 was increases in the prices of certain products, he said.

LeCroy Corp. of Chestnut Ridge said this morning its second-quarter loss narrowed to $800,000 during the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2007, compared with a loss of $2.2 million a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the company lost 7 cents in the quarter that ended in June, compared with 19 cents in the last quarter of 2006.

Revenue rose to $40.7 million, from $36.8 million.

The company also reports its quarterly earnings on a basis that does not comply with generally accepted accounting principles. On that basis, the company earned $2.9 million, or 24 cents a share, compared with a profit of $1.4 million, or 12 cents a share, a year earlier.

LeCroy provides oscilloscopes, which are devices that measure the strength of signals in computer chips.

Tal International Group Inc., the Purchase-based company that leases freight containers and chassis, doubled its second-quarter profit to $40.3 million, or $1.23 a share, as leasing revenues rose.

Brian M. Sondey, the company’s president and chief executive, said the performance reflected growth in the company’s fleet and high utilization.

“In the second quarter, we experienced strong leasing demand for of our major container types, as we continued to benefit from solid global containerized trade growth and reduced direct purchases of containers by our customers,” he said in a statement released by the company.

A year earlier, the company earned $20.8 million, or 62 cents a share.

Leasing revenues rose to $77.9 million from $68.8 million, the company said.

Tal says its pre-tax results are the best gauge of its performance. Its adjusted pre-tax income, not counting gains and losses on interest rate swaps, was $26.6 million, compared with $21.1 million a year earlier.

Eastview-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., which is seeking to develop drugs for cancer, eye conditions and inflammatory conditions, said this morning it will receive at least $4.3 million a year for five years by allowing a French company to use its technology.

Sanofi-aventis SA will use Regeneron’s proprietary VelociGene technology in its internal research programs, Regeneron said. The technology provides models of gene function and disease.

Regeneron lost $105.6 million on revenue of $125.02 million in fiscal 2007.

A subsidiary of money manager Mario Gabelli’s mutual fund company plans to go public.

Rye-based Gamco Investors Inc. said this morning that Gabelli Entertainment & Telecommunications Acquisition Corp., has notified the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it plans to raise up to $200 million by offering 20 million units at $10 apiece.

Each unit consists of one share of stock and one warrant. The company was formed to acquire businesses in the media, entertainment, telecommunications and financial services industries.

Acorda Therapeutics Inc., the pharmaceutical company based in Hawthorne, said this morning it lost $18.8 million, or 58 cents a share, during the quarter that ended in June.

During the corresponding quarter in 2007, the company, which markets Zanaflex, a treatment for involuntary muscle movements caused by multiple sclerosis and spinal injuries, lost $8.2 million, or 33 cents a share.

Net sales rose to $11.36 million from $9.48 million.

The company is also seeking to develop Fampridine-SR, a drug to help people with multiple sclerosis walk.

Dr. Ron Cohen, the president and chief executive of the company, said in a statement released by the company. “Acorda continued to achieve important milestones in this quarter.”

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. wants a federal judge to allow it to pursue its claims that a former employee lied in order to get the company to provide her with a retirement benefits package in 2005.

The company is asking U.S. District Court Judge William C. Conner to deny a motion by retiree Daisy Early to have the Wyeth claims thrown out of court.

Early, who worked for the company as a packaging and biological operator for 29 years, is one of seven current and former black employees of Wyeth’s Pearl River operations who sued the company for alleged racial discrimination.

The company countered her lawsuit by alleging that she made it clear at the time of her retirement that she was retiring “voluntarily” and “without coercion.” But the company noted that she now claims she retired because Wyeth forced her out of the job by discriminating against her.

The company has asked the court to order Early to return certain retirement benefits she received.

Early, 57, and her lawyer, Steven Morelli, asked the court last month to dismiss the company’s claims.

But in papers filed last week, Wyeth’s lawyers said it has produced enough evidence to show that Early “may well have fraudulently induced Wyeth into pay her severance benefits.”

The company said Early worked through September 2005. But the company said it did not officially terminate her employment until Oct. 7, 2005 because she wanted to remain on the payroll through her 55th birthday on Oct. 4 so that she would not have a lapse in medical coverage.

Morelli could not be reached for comment.

A New City man has been named the president and chief executive of Henschel-Steinau Inc., a New Jersey company that designs and makes advertising displays for stores.

Gary Forman joined the company more than 35 years ago and most recently served as executive vice president of sales.
He got the top job when the 49-year-old company was sold to a group of 11 employees.

“Henschel-Steinau was built as a service oriented organization that always treats clients, suppliers and fellow employees with professionalism and respect in every aspect of our business,” Forman said in a statement released by the company. “The word ‘partnership’ is important in everything we do. That will remain at the core of our corporate philosophy as we continue to grow the business.”

EpiCept Corp. of Eastview said this morning the 5.53 million shares of its stock available in an upcoming public offering will be priced at 54.3 cents apiece. The five-year warrants to buy up to 2.76 million shares will carry an exercise price of 48 cents a share, the company said.

EpiCept will take in about 2.65 million in net proceeds from the offering. The company plans to use the money for general corporate purposes and to repay a portion of a secured loan.

The company is seeking to develop drugs for cancer patients.

EpiCept last week announced it had received a regulatory approval in Europe for Ceplene, a treatment for a type of leukemia. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use issued a positive opinion regarding the marketing of Ceplene.

The company’s shares were trading at 58 cents, down 8 cents, at about 10:20 a.m.

ConEdison Solutions has been awarded a contract by the New York Power Authority to provide upgrades and services to the nation’s largest state-owned power utility, ConEdison Solutions said today.

Under the contract, granted through competitive bids, ConEdison Solutions will provide efficiency upgrades, including  lighting, motors and controls at NYPA plants in Westchester and New York City.

Services will include conducting feasibility studies, evaluating existing and proposed systems, developing designs, purchasing equipment, installation, supervision of installation and commissioning of equipment, said White Plains-based ConEdison Solutions, a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison Inc.

The amount of the contract will be based on costs associated with individual projects and has yet to be determined, said ConEdison Solutions spokeswoman Christine Nevin. However, the contract’s value is estimated to be in the “low millions,” she said.

JMT Consulting Group of Patterson has agreed to acquire St. Louis-based NFP Consultants Inc., said the companies, which both provide consulting and software to nonprofit organizations.

Terms of the deal, announced this week, weren’t disclosed.

“Bringing these two great companies together will allow us to transcend what we have accomplished as separate businesses into one superior consultancy,” said Jacqueline Tiso, founder and chief executive of JMT Consulting.

The purchase is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close within 60 days, the companies said.

JMT has 25 employees, about a dozen of which work at the company’s Putnam offices, a spokeswoman said.