TAMPA -- 7-Eleven, Inc. will hold a franchise seminar for those interested in finding out more about franchising opportunities with 7-Eleven stores in the Tampa/St. Pete area.
Lucas Patton, 7-Eleven’s franchise sales manager for the Tampa/St. Pete area, will explain the company’s franchise system, business model and benefits to franchising.
7-Eleven, Inc. provides the land, building, equipment and a turn-key operation for its franchisees. The average up front, total investment for a 7-Eleven franchise in the Tampa/St. Pete area ranges between $120,000 to $250,000 based on the individual store’s profitability.
The seminar will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the 7-Eleven office, 8401-A Benjamin Road, Tampa.
For more information and to RSVP for the open house, call (813) 885-1191. ext. 7110.
Grand opening set for financial services firm
LAKEWOOD RANCH -- Julie Mekhail of the financial services firm Edward Jones is holding a grand opening at 2 p.m. May 4 at her office at 11053 Gatewood Drive, Lakewood Ranch.
Edward Jones provides financial services for individual investors. Every aspect of the firm’s business, from the types of investment options offered to the location of branch offices, is designed to cater to individual investors in the communities in which they live and work.
Growth in prescription drug spending slows
TRENTON, N.J. -- The national tab for prescription drugs last year grew at the second-slowest pace ever measured by a prominent health data firm.
Americans and their insurers spent $307.4 billion on prescription drugs in 2010, up just 2.3 percent from the previous year, according to data released Tuesday by IMS Health Inc. That’s a slowdown from a 5.1 percent increase in 2009. Earlier in the decade, annual increases went as high as 13 percent.
Only 2008, the depths of the recession, saw drug spending grow more slowly.
That’s bad news for drugmakers facing ever-growing competition to their pricey brand-name medications.
The slowdown also may be bad for doctors, and patients delaying needed medication.
Johnson & Johnson’s 1Q earnings fall on recall costs
Health care giant Johnson & Johnson’s revenue rebounded but its profit dropped 23 percent in the first quarter because of higher costs for product recalls and litigation.
Adjusted earnings handily topped analysts’ expectations Tuesday on strength overseas, helped by a weaker dollar.
J&J also said fixing manufacturing problems that led to the embarrassing string of 22 recalls of Tylenol, Benedryl and other over-the-counter drugs will take longer than expected.
Yahoo 1st quarter earnings top analyst estimates
SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Yahoo first-quarter earnings turned out better than analysts expected as online display advertising sales picked up.
The results released Tuesday could help Yahoo Inc. CEO Carol Bartz persuade skeptical investors that the company is headed in the right direction after years of aimlessness.
The company earned $223 million, or 17 cents per share, during the first three months of this year.
That’s a 28 percent decline from $310 million, or 22 cents per share, a year ago.
-- Herald staff, wire reports
Intel’s net jumps 29 percent as businesses snap up PCs
SAN FRANCISCO -- Intel’s earnings rose 29 percent as strong spending by businesses on new computers helped the company overcome a serious product design error and fallout from the deadly earthquake and tsunami in Japan. An extra week in the quarter also helped.
Net income was $3.16 billion, or 56 cents per share, higher than the 46 cents per share that analysts polled by FactSet expected. A year ago, Intel earned $2.44 billion, or 43 cents per share.
IBM earnings up 10 percent, helped by weak dollar
NEW YORK -- IBM has reported stronger-than-expected net income and revenue for the first quarter, helped by the weak dollar and strong performance in the Americas and emerging markets.
IBM also raised its full-year forecast for operating earnings.
Net income rose 10 percent to $2.86 billion, or $2.31 per share. In the year-ago period, IBM earned $2.6 billion, or $1.97 per share.
Nasdaq OMX, ICE reinforce bid for NYSE
NEW YORK -- Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. and Intercontinental Exchange Inc. are trying to reassure the owners of the New York Stock Exchange that they have adequate financing for their unsolicited $11.3 billion takeover bid and are willing to pay a hefty penalty if regulators object to it.
The companies, whose bid was rejected by NYSE Euronext Inc. in favor of an earlier $10 billion offer by German exchange operator Deutsche Boerse AG, argued in a letter to the chairman of NYSE Euronext chairman Tuesday that their proposal is superior.
Seagate to buy Samsung’s hard disk drive business
NEW YORK -- Seagate has agreed to buy Samsung’s hard drive business for $1.38 billion in a further consolidation of an industry that faces growing competition from a newer storage technology, popular in smartphones and tablet computers.
-- Herald staff reports
