| Business comment
There are many reasons why Lord Browne had to leave BP before he was ready. With hindsight, few of them will reflect that badly on a slight man who will be remembered fondly as Britain's first global business giant. But one tragic incident stands out as a lasting warning of what happens when a company grows too fast and too big to keep tabs on all its outposts. .
Schering-Plough Net Rises on Cholesterol Drugs' Sales (Update3)
Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Schering-Plough Corp.'s fourth- quarter earnings surged 62 percent as the combined sales of its Vytorin and Zetia cholesterol drugs jumped to $1.1 billion. Net income rose to $204 million, or 12 cents a share, from $126 million, or 7 cents, a year earlier, the Kenilworth, New Jersey-based company said today in a statement. Revenue increased 14 percent to $2.7 billion, spurred by a 46 percent rise for Zetia and Vytorin. Chief Executive Officer Fred Hassan closed plants and fired 2,000 workers to cut $100 million in 2007 costs. Schering, the eighth-biggest drugmaker by sales, said it expects revenue from the company's cholesterol drugs to increase this year even as the treatments face competition from generic copies of Merck & Co.'s Zocor.
It's good to be home
Web only:On Feb. 3, I rocked my baby to sleep. It was one of life's sweetest moments. How did I ever live for five whole months without a rocking chair? I returned earlier than expected to my home in Utah at the very end of January during one of its notorious inversions. Folks everywhere were complaining about the pollution. To me, the air seemed like balm to my tired lungs in comparison to the horrendous pollution we had been breathing in Tianjin. A lump came to my throat when I drove up and down the streets, looking over at the snow-covered mountains and marveling at the sheer beauty of my home. It's a magical landscape that most folks in Tianjin will only get to see in pictures or their dreams. I took Sophie to her first day of kindergarten and she came home ecstatic.
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