Business news in brief

In the Region

 

Urban Outfitter shares fall

 

Shares of Urban Outfitters Inc. declined the most in almost 20 months after the Navy Yard- based teen-clothing retailer said in a regulatory filing that third- quarter comparable-store sales had been rising at a “mid-single- digit” rate. The shares slid 10.2 percent to $38.35 – the day’s largest decline in the Standard Poor’s 500 Index. The stock has fallen 2.6 percent this year, as the SP 500 has gained 18 percent. Janney Montgomery Scott L.L.C. last week estimated that the operator of Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and Free People stores would report sales were running at a “high-single digit” rate. – Bloomberg News

 

Law firm in Myanmar venture

 

Duane Morris, the Center City law firm, said it had established an office in Yangon, Myanmar, as a joint venture with Singapore- based Selvam L.L.C. The venture, Duane Morris Selvam L.L.P., will serve international and domestic clients, offering advice on taxes, licensing, regulation, market entry, and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, among other matters. Duane Morris said it was the first launch by a U.S.-based law firm in Myanmar, which in the last year has implemented a series of business and political reforms and has seen a surge in business activity. – Chris Mondics

 

Five Below shares surge 17.2%

 

Five Below Inc. shares rose 17.2 percent, or $7.05, to $48.09 after the Philadelphia discount retailer said second-quarter sales increased 35 percent, to $117.1 million, and boosted its full-year outlook. Adding to the rally, the Associated Press said a Sterne, Agee Leach analyst raised his price target for Five Below, saying that shoppers’ appetite for low-priced goods likely isn’t changing soon. The analyst, Charles Grom, increased Five Below’s price target to $44 from $39. Quarterly net profit was $4.0 million, or 7 cents per share, compared with a loss of $64.2 million, or $3.41 cents per share. – Reid Kanaley

 

Pep Boys shares up

 

The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe Jack, the Philadelphia auto-service and car-parts chain, saw shares rise 52 cents, or 4.5 percent, to $12.04 a day after reporting that revenue was up slightly but same-store sales were down 1.3 percent in the latest quarter. The retailer said it earned $5.4 million, or 10 cents per share on revenue of $527.6 million in the quarter ended Aug. 3, compared with a net of $33.0 million, or 61 cents per share, on $525.7 million in sales a year earlier. The prior-year net included $43 million in fees from the company’s terminated merger with Gores Group L.L.C. Pep Boys acquired 17 locations in California this month, and now has about 750 stores, it said. – Reid Kanaley

 

$4M gift to United Way fund

 

Investor Ira M. Lubert pledged $4 million to the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey‘s endowment fund to support an initiative that helps working individuals to achieve long-term financial stability and security, the United Way said. The money will go to a program that helps working adults participate in postsecondary education or buy a first house by matching the participants’ savings. It will be renamed Lubert Individual Development Account Program. – Harold Brubaker

 

Del. court rules on Countrywide

 

The Delaware Supreme Court says former Countrywide shareholders cannot pursue a federal lawsuit filed against leaders of the mortgage lender before its 2008 acquisition by Bank of America Corp. Acting on a request by a California federal appeals court, the justices confirmed Tuesday that a “fraud exception” in Delaware law does not allow for the revival of a 2007 federal lawsuit. This exception to the Delaware law has never been applied. The law requires continuous ownership of a company’s stock for shareholders to pursue claims on behalf of a company, usually against officers and directors. But the shareholders didn’t have that – a California judge had ruled that the 2008 acquisition by Bank of America eliminated the Countrywide shareholders’ standing to pursue their lawsuit. – AP

 

 

Elsewhere

Verizon plans huge bond sale

 

Verizon Communications Inc. plans to sell $45 billion to $49 billion of bonds in an eight-part offering as soon as Wednesday that would be the largest ever, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction. The sale would be more than twice the size of Apple Inc.‘s unprecedented $17 billion issue in April, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Verizon is poised to pay a premium for the size of its sale, intended to finance a $130 billion purchase of Vodafone Group P.L.C.‘s 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless. – Bloomberg News

 

Mixed signs on July hiring

 

U.S. employers advertised fewer jobs in July but hired more workers, a mixed sign that suggests only modest improvement in the job market. The Labor Department says job openings fell 180,000 in July to 3.7 million. That’s down from 3.9 million the previous month, which was revised lower. Overall hiring increased to 4.4 million, up from 4.3 million in June and 4.17 million a year ago. The job market remains tight. There were 3.1 unemployed people competing for each open job. In a healthy economy the ratio is 2-1. On Friday, the unemployment rate fell to 7.3 percent, but only because more people gave up looking for work. – AP

 

 

Business news in brief