| Paul Domowitch | Offseason might sting, Birds fans
THREE PIECES of advice for Eagles fans as they prepare for an offseason not expected to bubble over with Super Bowl-here-we-come news: 1) stay away from the knife drawer; 2) keep the acid-reflux medicine close by; and 3) focus on the Phillies until the rookies report to Lehigh. Between now and then, not much that will happen at One Nova-Care Way likely will bring much of a smile to your face, other than possibly the long-overdue pink slips expected to be given to Dhani Jones and Jerome McDougle. The free-agent market is anorexic, but even if it weren't, and even if the Eagles actually were inclined to gobble up veterans, which they're not, they don't have their usual 1,000 acres of salary-cap space. After signing several young players to long-term extensions in 2006, they will head into free agency less than $13 million under the projected $109 million cap.
Schering-Plough Net Rises 62% on Cholesterol Sales (Update2)
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.
Verizon profits fall 38% in 4th quarter
Verizon Communications, the second-largest U.S. telephone company, said fourth-quarter profit fell 38 percent because of costs to shed units and build a fiber-optic network. Net income fell to $1.03 billion, or 35 cents a share, from $1.66 billion, or 59 cents, a year earlier, the New York-based company said. Sales rose 26 percent to $22.6 billion. Taxes on the sale of assets in the Dominican Republic and costs to spin off a directories unit cut profit by 22 cents. Chief executive Ivan Seidenberg sacrificed profit from the wireless unit to expand Verizon's faster network for Internet and TV service. The $23 billion investment is designed to compete with cable companies such as Comcast Corp., which have attracted more subscribers by offering phone service. "You have to believe that the money that they're spending is working," said Richard Sichel, who helps manage $1.5 billion, including Verizon shares, as chief investment officer of Philadelphia Trust Co.
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