by The Canadian Press Posted Dec 27, 2012 4:05 pm MDT AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to RedditRedditShare to 電子郵件Email Poseidon Concepts stock drops over 55% after dividend suspended, CEO replaced CALGARY – Poseidon Concepts Corp. lost more than half of its value in heavy trading Thursday after the oilfield services company suspended its dividend, replaced its CEO and initiated a board review of its management and business processes.Poseidon (TSX:PSN) was the most heavily traded issue on the Toronto Stock Exchange, falling $1.83 or 55.29 per cent to $1.48 on volume of more than 12.1 million shares.Prior to the announcement, the company had been paying a monthly dividend of nine cents per share.Investors sold off the stock after the Calgary-based company’s announcement, which included creation of a special committee to review the recent writeoff of certain accounts owing to it and an assessment of business controls.“In addition, the special committee will make recommendations to the board of directors of Poseidon regarding further changes, including managerial changes, that will strengthen the operations and finance functions of the company,” it said.Poseidon said executive chairman Scott Dawson has assumed the role of interim president and chief executive.Dawson, former president and CEO of Open Range Energy before it was sold to Peyto Exploration and Development, was named executive chairman in November with a mandate to become actively involved with the company’s management.Lyle Michaluk, who was chief executive, was named interim chief financial officer to replace Matt MacKenzie, while Cliff Wiebe moved from president and chief operating officer to the role of chief technology officer.Michaluk, Wiebe and James McKee, chief financial officer at Saxon Energy Services, also resigned from the Poseidon board.The move followed a $9.5-million charge in Poseidon’s third quarter related to a writeoff of accounts receivable after the company had difficulty in collecting payments from certain unnamed customers.Poseidon said it has been addressing its accounts receivable in recent weeks and was actively pursuing collections.“While a final number cannot yet be determined, the company may need to make additional writedowns of accounts receivable in future periods and such writedowns may be significant,” the company said.Poseidon said exploration and development activity has slowed considerably in recent months and, as a result, it has seen lower realized prices and thinner margins.The company rents large tanks used by the oil and gas industry to hold fracturing fluids and other liquids. read more
by The Canadian Press Posted Apr 4, 2013 9:47 am MDT Lack of innovation holding Canada back, says Conference Board report AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to RedditRedditShare to 電子郵件Email OTTAWA – The Conference Board says Canada has been spinning its wheels in the critical area of business innovation despite a decade of trying.The Ottawa-based think-tank says its latest comparison of 16 advanced economies puts Canada in 13th place on innovation, a key element of a modern, competitive economy.The report, being released Thursday morning, says Canada ranks second last in two important aspects of the overall innovation record, the amount businesses spend on research and development and in venture capital expenditures.Ironically, the research shows Canada does well in the quality of its scientific research and the creation of new businesses.“But these signs of promise are not being turned into commercially viable products and services, and successful, globally-competitive companies are not emerging from our creative ideas,” says Daniel Muzyka, the think-tank’s chief executive.The Conference Board notes that the federal government has placed great emphasis in improving Canada’s innovation performance for years, most directly in the 2012 budget’s revamping of how $3.5 billion is doled out to firms under the Scientific Research and Experimental Development program. Last month’s budget also set aside about $200 million for venture firms.Muzyka gives some credit to government, but says the problem has not been resolved.For instance, business spending on research and development has actually dropped to 0.89 per cent of gross domestic product in 2011 from 1.29 per cent 10 years earlier. By comparison, U.S. firms spend twice as much comparatively, and Finnish firms three times.Governments do better on R&D spending, ranking eighth in the 16-nation comparison.“We have now reached a point where we are seriously impacting the wealth and opportunities for following generations,” Muzyka says.The report is part of the Conference Board’s “How Canada Performs” series, which are released separately. In March, the think-tank found that Canada was sixth among the nations for economic performance. read more
WASHINGTON – A subsidiary of India’s largest pharmaceutical company has agreed to pay a record $500 million in fines and penalties for selling adulterated drugs and lying to federal regulators in a case that is part of an ongoing crackdown on the quality of generic drugs flowing into the U.S.Federal prosecutors say the guilty plea by Ranbaxy USA Inc. represents the largest financial penalty against a generic drug company for violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which prohibits the sale of impure drugs.The deal, announced Monday, concludes a years-long federal investigation into Ranbaxy’s manufacturing deficiencies. The Food and Drug Administration in 2008 barred from Ranbaxy from importing more than 30 different drugs made at factories in India and, two years ago, struck a deal that required the company to ensure that data on its products is accurate, undergo extra oversight and review from a third-party and improve its drug making procedures.The subsidiary of Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges and the company separately agreed to resolve civil claims with all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The company had earlier set aside $500 million to cover potential criminal and civil liability stemming from the Justice Department investigation.It admitted as part of the deal that it sold adulterated batches of drugs — including an antibiotic and generic versions of medications used to treat severe acne, epilepsy and nerve pain — that were developed at two manufacturing sites in India. It’s not known whether the problems with the drugs led to any health issues. The problems were largely revealed by a whistleblower in a federal lawsuit filed in Maryland in 2007. The government’s allegations against the company make no claims that the drugs, whose strength, purity or quality differed from the specifications, harmed anyone.The company admitted to a wide range of deficiencies, including improperly storing drug samples that awaiting testing, continuing to sell a medication in the U.S. even after it had failed purity tests and delaying a voluntary recall of medication that it knew would not maintain its expected its expected shelf life.Ranbaxy also admitted making false statements to the FDA in 2006 and 2007 annual reports about dates of tests that are designed to detect drug impurities and determine appropriate storage conditions. In some cases, the tests were done weeks or months after the company said they’d been performed. Or the tests were done on the same day — or within days of each other — instead of months apart, the prescribed interval.The company said in a written statement that it had fully co-operated with the investigation, which it said involved actions from several years ago, and expects “future growth in the U.S. and around the world with a robust pipeline of important products.”“While we are disappointed by the conduct of the past that led to this investigation, we strongly believe that settling this matter now is in the best interest of all of Ranbaxy’s stakeholders; the conclusion of the DOJ investigation does not materially impact our current financial situation or performance,” Ranbaxy CEO and managing director Arun Sawhney said in a statement.The company had faced scrutiny in recent years. Apart from the federal investigation, Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc. — also a subsidiary of Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited — halted in November of generic cholesterol drug Lipitor while it investigated how tiny glass particles got into dozens of recalled batches. The FDA determined at the time that the risk to patients was very low.The case comes as federal regulators and prosecutors focus attention on the quality of ingredients of generics and other drugs manufactured overseas, said Allan Coukell, an expert on drug safety at The Pew Charitable Trusts. He said the 2008 deaths linked to tainted batches of the blood-thinner heparin that were imported from China served as a “wake up call” about just how much of the nation’s drug supply comes from overseas.“Over the last few years, the FDA and others have been increasingly focused on the risks associated with global drug manufacturing. The agency now has new authority and new resources which should result in an increased scrutiny on the highest-risk facilities,” he said.The company agreed as part of Monday’s deal to a fine and forfeiture of $150 million as well as an additional $350 million penalty to settle civil claims that it submitted false statements to Medicaid, Medicare and other government health care programs. Nearly $49 million of that penalty will go to a former Ranbaxy executive, Dinesh Thakur, who acted as a whistleblower by filing a federal lawsuit accusing the company of knowingly falsifying drug data, prosecutors said.Thakur said in a statement that the company had been notified of the problems, and “when they failed to correct the problems, it left me with no choice but to alert healthcare authorities.”“He was the source, the original source, of the information to the government that ultimately led to the government’s earlier actions,” said Andrew Beato, one of Thakur’s lawyers. by Eric Tucker, The Associated Press Posted May 13, 2013 1:11 pm MDT Subsidiary of Indian drug maker agrees to pay record $500 million US penalty for impure drugs AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to RedditRedditShare to 電子郵件Email read more
by Josh Boak, The Associated Press Posted Dec 5, 2013 8:23 am MDT US factory orders drop 0.9 per cent in October on fewer orders for aircrafts and computers AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to RedditRedditShare to 電子郵件Email WASHINGTON – U.S. factories received fewer orders in October, as aircraft demand fell and businesses cut back on computers. The decline suggests companies were hesitant to invest during the 16-day partial government shutdown.Factory orders dropped 0.9 per cent in October, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That followed a 1.8 per cent increase in September.A big reason for the decline in October was a steep drop in orders for aircraft.But core capital goods, which are a proxy for business investment, dropped 0.6 per cent, the second straight decline. Economists watch this category closely because it excludes volatile orders for aircraft and defence equipment.Much of the decline in that category came from a drop in demand for computers. Demand picked up for primary metals, household appliances and oil and gas field machinery.All of these are long-lasting goods. The government estimated demand for these products last week and revised their figures in the factory orders report on Thursday.The report also includes orders for non-durable goods, such as food, chemicals and paper. Those orders fell 0.2 per cent and have declined for the past three months.The government’s data have conflicted with other reports that show manufacturing is on an upswing.The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group, said Monday that factory activity grew last month at the fastest pace in 2 1/2 years. It was also the sixth straight month that the survey showed improvement.Strong auto sales have pushed up demand for steel and other metals, while the rebound in home construction after a summer lull should translate into demand for furniture and appliances.Factory output rose for the third straight month in October, according to the Federal Reserve, driven higher by greater production of primary metals and furniture. Overseas demand for many goods has also risen as Europe has climbed out of recession, Japan is growing faster and China’s economy has slowed but is still growing at a healthy pace.Manufacturers are also hiring more workers, typically a sign of confidence in the market. Factories have added 38,000 jobs from August through October, according to the government’s employment reports.November was likely another strong month, according to the ISM data and private payroll provider ADP. On Wednesday, ADP said factories added 18,000 jobs last month.The government releases its November employment report on Friday. read more
Eurozone economy grew meagre 0.2 per cent in Q3 as France rebounds and Greek recession over LONDON – The eurozone economy is failing to pick up any real momentum despite the good news that Greece has finally emerged from its crippling, six-year recession.The 18-country currency union posted a 0.2 per cent increase in output in the third quarter of the year compared with the three-month period. That’s not enough to make a serious dent in the near-record unemployment, and few economists think it’s going to get much better any time soon and may require more help from the European Central Bank.The figure reported by the Eurostat statistics agency Friday was stronger than the 0.1 per cent tick recorded in the second quarter, which most in the markets had expected to be repeated. It is also equivalent to an annualized rate of around 0.8 per cent, way short of the U.S.’s 3.5 per cent.“After a false dawn when the eurozone exited recession just over a year ago the fundamentals and overall economic picture have failed to see a substantial improvement,” said Danae Kyriakopoulou, an economist at the Centre for Economic and Business Research.DEFLATION RISKThough the eurozone has avoided recession, weak growth is a problem because the region faces an additional threat — deflation.At only 0.4 per cent in the year to October, inflation is far below the 2 per cent rate the European Central Bank looks for. As a result, the ECB is under pressure to provide more stimulus.If prices start falling on a sustained basis — so-called deflation — growth may be choked further as consumers delay purchases in the hope of cheaper bargains down the line and businesses fail to innovate and invest.“Growth is still nowhere near strong enough to eat into the vast amount of spare capacity in the region and hence diminish the risks of deflation,” said Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics. “As such, the numbers do nothing to ease the pressure on the ECB and governments to provide more policy stimulus.”SHAKY CENTERA more detailed look at Friday’s figures shows much of the growth was due to France expanding 0.3 per cent during the quarter. Many had feared Europe’s second-biggest economy could sink back into recession.France’s outperformance helped to make up for a muted 0.1 per cent gain in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy. Germany has long been Europe’s driver of growth, but its key export and industrial sectors have seen a sharp drop in recent months, partly as a result of uncertainty over Ukraine.Meanwhile, Italy continued to contract with a 0.1 per cent quarterly drop, suggesting the eurozone’s third largest economy continues to lag the rest of Europe as it struggles to reform its economy.GREEK EMERGENCEIn perhaps the most momentous development, the figures showed Greece is out of recession for the first time in six years. Greece posted annual growth of 0.4 per cent in the second quarter, followed by 1.4 per cent in the third. According to Eurostat, Greece slipped into recession in the summer of 2008.Greece is now among the fastest-growing economies in the eurozone, having expanded in each period this year. In the third quarter, its output swelled by 0.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter.However, it’s going to take years for Greece to recoup the economic ground lost during the recession, one of the most savage to afflict a developed economy in the past 100 years. Its economy is now around a quarter smaller than when the recession started.“This does not reflect reality,” said Foteini Kyzouli, who used to make a living in renting out properties but now eats at a soup kitchen. “I believe we will get worse and worse.”No country was immune to the global financial crisis of 2008-9, but few were in as bad a state to deal with it as Greece. Years of profligate government spending had combined with a super-charged credit boom to give the illusion that Greece had won its place among the developed world elite by adopting the euro money in 2002. by Pan Pylas, The Associated Press Posted Nov 14, 2014 3:02 am MDT AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to RedditRedditShare to 電子郵件Email read more