A roundup of today's other business news in brief
Eli Lilly halts Alzheimer’s drug development after studies
Eli Lilly and Co is halting development of one of its experimental Alzheimer’s disease treatments, semagacestat, after the drug worsened cognition and the ability to perform daily tasks in large late-stage studies.
Separately on Tuesday, US Food and Drug Administration staff raised safety concerns about using Lilly’s blockbuster antidepressant Cymbalta to treat chronic pain ahead of a public meeting on Thursday to weigh the potential new use of the drug.
Lilly shares fell more than 2 per cent in morning trading.
Shares of Elan Corp, which would have had US rights to co-promote semagacestat, were down 1 per cent. – (Reuters)
Kinney appointed director of IL&P
Irish Life & Permanent has appointed Alexandra (Sandy) Kinney as a non-executive director of the group.
Ms Kinney is a former financial services partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers in London and is currently a non-executive director of the Skipton Building Society and of the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
She is the third new non-executive director to be appointed in the last nine months.
Barretstown role for Maurice Pratt
Maurice Pratt, former chief executive of a number of businesses including drinks group CC and Tesco Ireland, has been appointed chairman of the children’s charity Barretstown.
Mr Pratt, who assumes the role from Danuta Gray, chief executive of O2 Ireland, will take up the position on September 1st.
Barretstown aims to rebuild the lives of children affected by serious illness and their families.
€2.79bn profits in Q2 for Walmart
Retail giant Walmart made profits of $3.6 billion (€2.79 billion), or 97 cents a share, in the second quarter of its financial year, which ended on July 31st.
A year ago it posted a profit of $3.48 billion, or 89 cents a share, for the same period in 2009. Revenue rose 2.8 per cent to $103.73 billion, below the average Wall Street forecast of $105.33 billion.
Walmart also raised its full-year earnings forecast to $3.95 to $4.05 a share from a previous view of $3.90 to $4. Analysts had forecast $3.99 per share.
International sales rose 11 per cent, helped by strength in Mexico and new store openings. On a constant currency basis, sales in the unit rose 7.3 per cent. Its Asda chain in Britain posted a fall in underlying sales for the second quarter in a row.
The multinational said it would focus on curbing expenses and signalled a move away from price cuts that have hurt margins.
