PPG Profit Soars 64 Percent In Third Quarter

Acquisitions remain a focus for PPG Industries Inc., which has $3 billion in cash that it can spend to increase performance, CEO Charles E. Bunch said Thursday when the company reported a 64 percent jump in third-quarter profit.

“We have a very active acquisition pipeline,” Bunch said. “Including the pending acquisition of Comex, we will likely spend at or above the top end of our previously announced range of $3 billion to $4 billion of cash in 2014 and 2015 on acquisitions and share repurchases.”

PPG’s latest deal is the purchase of Consorcio Comex S.A. de C.V., a leading paint company in Mexico, for $2.3 billion. The deal announced June 30 is expected to be completed by Dec. 31.

Read more: http://triblive.com/business/headlines/6972135-74/sales-improved-percent#ixzz3GPZ9k5QG
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BNY Mellon Posts Third-Quarter Earnings Of $1.07 Billion

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. posted a third-quarter profit of $1.07 billion, or 93 cents per share, up from $962 million, or 82 cents per share, during the same quarter a year earlier.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/business/2014/10/17/BNY-Mellon-posts-third-quarter-earnings-of-1-07-billion-Pittsburgh/stories/201410170178

Sears Closing Store At Century III Mall In West Mifflin

Map of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Sears store at Century III Mall is slated to close in early December.

A spokesman for Sears Holdings in Illinois said a liquidation sale is scheduled to start Friday.

“Store closures are part of a series of actions we’re taking to reduce ongoing expenses, adjust our asset base, and accelerate the transformation of our business model,” said Howard Riefs, director of corporate communications for Sears Holdings, in an email.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/business/2014/09/22/Sears-closing-store-at-Century-III-Mall-in-West-Mifflin-Pittsburgh/stories/201409220183

Businessman Lewis Katz Buying Philadelphia Newspapers

The Philadelphia Inquirer-Daily News Building in Philadelphia, PA. Taken from North Broad and Callowhill Streets. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Businessman Lewis Katz and philanthropist H.G. “Gerry” Lenfest will take over Philadelphia’s two largest newspapers from their partners with an $88 million auction bid.

Katz and another businessman, George Norcross, had bought The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News and the Philly.com news website for $55 million in 2012. But they began feuding and competed to take control at Tuesday’s auction.

Katz made his fortune investing in the Kinney Parking empire and the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network in New York. He supports the investigative reporting favored by current Inquirer editor Bill Marimow.

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/business/20140527/businessman-lewis-katz-buying-philadelphia-newspapers

U.S. Steel New CEO Expected To Slash More Costs

U.S. Steel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The $1.8 billion charge U.S. Steel announced Friday is the first of several moves that industry analysts expect new CEO Mario Longhi will make to revitalize a company that has not had a profitable year since 2008.

Mr. Longhi, who took over Sept. 1 for John P. Surma, has been given a mandate to drastically slash costs and increase efficiency. So far, the former Alcoa executive has been largely silent about how he intends to do that. But analysts expect Mr. Longhi to rip a page from the playbook that most new CEOs rely on by getting the bad news out of the way early in his tenure.

Among the measures analysts expect is shutting at least one of the company’s plants. They cite the glut of current capacity as well as new mills being built that are targeting one of U.S. Steel’s most profitable markets: tubular products used in the oil and gas industry.

“We remain in a structurally over-supplied market,” said analyst Gordon Johnson of Axiom Capital Management in New York City. “Supply is going to continue to grow at an unhealthy clip.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/business/2013/10/22/U-S-Steel-new-CEO-expected-to-slash-more-costs/stories/201310220091

Campbell’s CEO Vows Commitment To Camden

Logo of Campbell’s Soup Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When it comes to keynote speakers, the International Economic Development Council’s choice of Denise Morrison Tuesday was inspired.

There are few Fortune 500 CEOs as uniquely qualified to speak about bolstering a ‘ backyard as Morrison, who is now two years into a tour of duty as head of Campbell Soup Co.

As Campbell’s CEO, she has remained committed to keeping the retail food giant squarely in the corner of its struggling hometown.

“I believe in the future of Camden,” she told a packed IEDC conference at the Philadelphia Marriott, “and so does Campbell.”

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20131009_Campbell_s_CEO_vows_commitment_to_Camden.html#DmlPC4oGU644ehpE.99

PPL Goes Before U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Supreme Court building. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments from PPL Corp. and federal tax authorities in a case whose outcome could determine the fate of billions of dollars in corporate profits.

The dispute, two decades in the making, involves a British tax imposed on PPL of Allentown after it bought one of many businesses privatized by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

At issue, specifically, are U.S. tax breaks for companies that pay foreign taxes. U.S. multinationals and lawmakers are watching closely — not only because the Obama administration has taken a very public stance against such tax breaks, but also because the nine Supreme Court justices rarely hear tax cases.

“The IRS recognizes the stakes in this case are broader than this particular [British] tax,” said Dirk Suringa, a former Treasury official, now a partner at law firm Covington & Burling.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/mc-sumpreme-court-hears-ppl-case-20130220,0,3330844.story