Home » January 25th, 2012
Entries posted on “January, 2012”
Former Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum has agreed to ink a two-year, $40 million deal with the San Francisco Giants, allowing the two parties to avoid arbitration. Lincecum, the National League Cy Young winner in 2008 and 2009, accepted the Giants’ two-year, $40 million offer, allowing him to become a free-agent in 2013. The 27-year-old hurler filed last week the highest paycheck in arbitration process for a player with less than six years of MLB service, asking the Giants for a one-year, $21.5 million deal. In return, the Giants offered their ace pitcher with a club record one-year, $17 million pact in an attempt to avoid arbitration. The two parties agreed to the figures but the current deal will cover Lincecum’s final year of arbitration, giving the hurler the chance to test the free-agency market for the first time in his career. Lincecum has a record of 64-41 with a 2.98 ERA and 1,127 strikeouts over five seasons with the Giants. In his young career, Lincecum also appeared in four All-Star games and won the Babe Ruth Award after leading the Giants to a World Series title in 2010.
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A wave of car bombings hit the Iraq capital on Tuesday, killing 14 people and wounding more than 70 as violence surges in the country amid an escalating political crisis a month after the U.S. military withdrawal. At least 170 people have died in attacks since the beginning of the year, many of them Shiite pilgrims attending religious commemorations. The last American soldiers left the country Dec. 18. Suspected Sunni insurgents have frequently targeted Shiite communities and Iraqi security forces to undermine public confidence in the Shiite-dominated government and its efforts to protect people. Tuesday’s first attack targeted an early morning gathering of day laborers in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood. Police said eight were killed and another 21 wounded. Minutes later, an explosives-packed car blew up near a pastry shop in the same district, killing three people and wounding 26, police said. Later in the morning, two more explosives-laden cars detonated, killing three and wounding 29 people. A parked car bomb exploded near a high school at 10:30 a.m. in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Shula in northern Baghdad, killing two students and wounding 16 others, most of them also students, according to local police. In the neighboring district of Hurriya, one person was killed when an explosives-packed car, parked along a busy commercial street detonated five minutes after the Shula blast, police officials said. Thirteen people were injured in that bombing. Hospital officials in Baghdad confirmed the death toll. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. While insurgents have carried out a number of deadly attacks in recent years, there is little indication so far that the country is slipping back toward the widespread sectarian bloodshed of 2006 and 2007. Nonetheless, these recent attacks are seen as particularly dangerous because they coincide with both the departure of U.S. troops, as well as a political crisis pitting Shiite officials against the largest Sunni-backed bloc. The political battle erupted last month after the Shiite-led government issued an arrest warrant against the Sunni vice president, Tareq al-Hashemi, on terrorism charges, sending him into virtual exile in the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq. In protest, al-Hashemi’s Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc has been boycotting parliament and Cabinet sessions, bringing government work to a standstill. Sunnis fear that without the American presence as a last-resort guarantor of a sectarian balance, the Shiite government will try [...]
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AMSTERDAM – Dutch telecommunications company Royal KPN NV has reported a 63 percent fall in fourth quarter earnings, mostly due to a large charge on its IT consulting business, Getronics, which it is now selling. Net profit in the quarter was euro176 million ($229 million), from euro475 million in the same period a year ago, including the euro298 million charge. The company said Tuesday it will cut up to 2,500 jobs at Getronics and sell off parts of the business with 4,900 more. It will sell Getronics’ European operations outside the Netherlands to Germany’s Aurelius AG and its Latin American business to private equity firm OpenGate capital. KPN said the businesses disposed had combined sales of euro665 million last year. KPN bought Getronics for euro776 million in 2007.
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Verizon Communications paid dearly to put iPhones in the hands of subscribers in the latest quarter, holding back its profits in the hope that its customers will rack up higher monthly bills and stay loyal. The quarter saw the launch of the Apple[AAPL 422.92 -4.489 (-1.05%) ] iPhone 4S, the second model to be sold by Verizon, and it was clear that many had been waiting for it. Verizon on Tuesday said it sold 4.3 million of them, and 7.7 million smartphones total. But by the upside-down logic of the wireless industry, higher sales mean lower profits for the quarter. Verizon Wireless subsidizes each smartphone by hundreds of dollars, figuring that it will make the money back in service fees over a two-year contract. That means the wireless division, though still highly profitable, posted a rare drop in operating income for the fourth quarter. An iPhone that Verizon buys from Apple for around $600 is sold in stores for $200. The question is whether phone companies ever really make that money back. Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett argues that the example of AT&T [T 30.00 -0.40 (-1.32%) ], which has sold iPhones since 2007, indicates that the expected boost to profits never really materializes, because the phone companies have to keep subsidizing each new iPhone release. “The earnings pop will always be a year away,” Moffett wrote Tuesday. In the results of Verizon, the phone company that owns 55 percent of Verizon Wireless, the effect of the iPhone sales was masked by large charge for adjusting the value of its pension plans. The New York-based company reported that it lost $2.02 billion, or 71 cents per share, in the last three months of 2011. That compares with net income of $2.64 billion, or 93 cents per share, a year ago. Verizon had warned that the big pension charge was coming. Excluding the pension effect and another one-time item, Verizon earned 52 cents per share. That was a penny shy of the average forecast of analysts polled by FactSet. Comparable earnings last year were 54 cents per share. Verizon had warned that hefty smartphone sales would hold back earnings, but analysts had expected a slightly smaller drop. Verizon shares [VZ 37.691 -0.709 (-1.85%) ] fell 90 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $37.50 in morning trading. On Jan. 3, they hit a four-year high of $40.48. Revenue rose 7.7 percent to $28.4 billion from $26.4 billion a year ago. The latest figure was in line with analysts’ expectations. [...]
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A New York woman who claimed to be a doctor in China is in a Las Vegas court for an evidence hearing on charges she performed illegal eyelift surgeries. Jing Qu (CHYOO) of Flushing in Queens, N.Y., was arrested in November on felony charges, including practicing medicine without a license. Police arrested the 55-year-old after a resident in a community southwest of the Las Vegas Strip complained about cars blocking his driveway and people in a neighboring house wearing medical scrubs. A woman with a bandaged eye and another woman with stitches and blood on her face told police they paid $800 to $1,000 for cosmetic surgery. Police say one woman was treated at a hospital but was expected to recover.
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The crackdown on file-sharing site Megaupload is expected to do little to reduce overall piracy of music, software and Hollywood movies, while potentially stifling emerging means of distributing content online. In the wake of last week’s surprising indictment of the digital storage company and seven executives, other companies have begun changing their policies even as Megaupload officers maintained their innocence in a first court appearance in New Zealand. Filesonic.com stopped allowing people to download files that they had not uploaded themselves, while Uploaded.to blocked access from Internet locations in the United States. However, just 3 percent of U.S. Internet users relied on digital lockers like Megaupload in the third quarter, according to NPD market research, compared with 9 percent who used peer-to-peer networks, which allow sharing of files among consumers’ computers with little or no central organization. Peer-to-peer systems, including BitTorrent and PirateBay, might gain more activity after the Megaupload charges, analysts said, while users may be afraid to upload content to lockers for fear they will lose access in a similar shutdown. “I don’t think you’ll see more file sharers per se, but the amount downloaded over the torrents might rise,” said NPD’s Russ Crupnick. But the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America said at least some users would balk at the higher complexity of peer-to-peer sites. Lockers are “more user friendly. I doubt there will be a wholesale shift” to torrents, said MPAA Senior Vice President Kevin Suh. PirateBay appeared to ignore the demise of Megaupload in its communications with users on Monday. In its blog, writers posted about how PirateBay saw the future of copying – evolving beyond digital format to physical objects it dubbed “physibles” – and about what artists it might promote in coming months. In a press release issued last week about proposed anti-piracy legislation in the U.S., PirateBay compared its role to the founding fathers of the U.S. and took the position that it fights for freedom of speech and the equality of all people.
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A man charged with trying to assassinate President Barack Obama is due in court on a new set of charges. Oscar Ramiro-Ortega Hernandez is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon in the November shooting. He was indicted last week. Ortega is accused of firing shots at the White House on the night of Nov. 11. Obama and his wife, Michelle, were not home at the time. Ortega was arrested several days later in Pennsylvania. The indictment includes charges of attempting to assassinate the president, transporting a firearm across state lines and assaulting a United States employee with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors say Ortega harbored conspiracy theories and fantasies of killing the president.
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A University of Utah professor charged with viewing child pornography on a plane has resigned. University spokesman Remi Barron says 47-year-old Grant Smith stepped down last month, several weeks after he was arrested Nov. 26 following a flight from Salt Lake City to Boston. He had been placed on paid administrative leave upon his arrest, but Barron tells the Deseret News Smith left before the school started any internal disciplinary action against him. Prosecutors say a fellow first-class passenger saw Smith viewing the images and took a cellphone photo before alerting a flight attendant. Smith was a materials science and engineering professor at the university. He has pleaded not guilty to child pornography possession.
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McDonald’s reported quarterly profit that beat analysts’ estimates as sales, which were already outpacing competitors, picked up strength in December. The company and its franchisees have been pouring money into their restaurants at a time when smaller and financially strapped chains are slashing costs. Such investments in renovations, longer operating hours and new menu items have helped McDonald’s win market share from weaker rivals. Sales at stores open at least a year rose 9.6 percent in December, with a 9.8 percent increase in the U.S. and a 10.8 percent increase in Europe. Analysts on average forecast a 5.9 percent increase overall, with the a 5.4 percent increase in the United States and a 6.4 percent increase in Europe. The world’s biggest hamburger chain reported fourth-quarter profit of $1.38 billion, or $1.33 per share, up from $1.24 billion, or $1.16 a share, a year earlier and beating the average analyst estimate of $1.30 a share. Revenue rose 10 percent to $6.82 billion, edging above the average analyst estimate of $6.81 billion. CEO Jim Skinner said the company, which is the world’s largest burger chain, plans to open 1,300 new restaurants in the coming year, to add to the current roster of 33,100-plus locations around the world. Skinner also said McDonald’s would continue to set aside money for renovating restaurants. The renovations have helped attract new customers, but have also needled some franchisees who had to pay some of the cost. McDonald’s shares [MCD 98.876 -2.074 (-2.05%) ] were up 40 cents at $101.35 on Tuesday.
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Johnson & Johnson reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings, but took big charges for product recalls, and the diversified healthcare company forecast 2012 earnings below analysts’ estimates amid continuing weak U.S. sales and the negative impact of the stronger dollar. The health care conglomerate delivered fourth-quarter earnings excluding items of $1.13 per share, up from $1.03 per share in the year-earlier period. The maker of Tylenol, prescription drugs and medical devices said net income was $218 million, or 8 cents per share, down from $1.94 billion, or 70 cents a share, a year earlier. Several charges dragged down net income income. Revenue was $16.3 billion, an increase from $15.64 billion a year ago. Analysts had expected the company to report earnings excluding items of $1.09 per share on revenue of $16.28 billion, according to Thompson Reuters. The company’s full-year earnings guidance excluding items of $5.05 to $5.15 per share was a bit below Wall Street expectations. After the announcement, shares of the company erased earlier losses and turned flat in pre-market trading. The company’s DePuy Orthopedics unit issued a massive recall of its “metal-on-metal” hips in 2010 after they shed metal fragments, causing disabling injuries. The devices were developed to be more durable than traditional implants that combined metal and polyethylene for their ball-in-socket structure. The costly recalls came even as J&J began massive recalls of dozens of consumer medicines, including its Tylenol and Motrin painkillers, due to quality lapses at its factories. Shortages of the products continue as J&J, under close U.S. supervision, attempts to upgrade a key plant in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. Chief Executive Officer William Weldon said on Tuesday that he expected the plant to reopen next year and for J&J to re-introduce important recalled products during 2012 that are being made elsewhere. “We feel positive about our consumer medicines going into 2012,” he told analysts on a conference call. “Results were pretty much in line, with some pretty big charges, but the forecast is a little weak for 2012,” said Morningstar analyst Damien Conover. J&J spokesman William Price said most analysts had not yet factored the negative impact of the stronger dollar into their forecasts. “Adjusting their estimates for the currency impact, 2012 guidance is in line with the analyst expectations,” Price said. J&J said global sales rose 3.9 percent in the fourth quarter to $16.26 billion, slightly below Wall Street’s average forecast of $16.27 billion. But U.S. sales [...]
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Could New York City’s H&H Bagels be toast? The Wall Street Journal reports the once dominant bagel empire is on the brink of losing its final property. But H&H owner Helmer Toro says he’s seeking new investors and is confident the business will survive. Toro founded H&H in 1972, and some connoisseurs consider his bagels the city’s best. But his original store on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and a manufacturing plant in New Jersey both closed last year amid financial difficulties. Toro is trying to keep his remaining location in midtown even though the property has been sold at a bankruptcy auction. The Journal says a bankruptcy trustee has moved to evict H&H from the building. Toro said he is in talks with investors to stay afloat.
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Rafael Nadal overcame a slow start to pound Tomas Berdych, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3 Tuesday night, setting up a semi-finals clash with Roger Federer at the 2012 Australian Open. Nadal racked up 37 winners and 157 points in total to beat the upset-minded Berdych on Rod Laver Arena. Berdych fired 17 aces, but the 56 unforced errors killed him in the match. With the victory, Nadal advanced to the semifinals where he will meet arch nemesis Roger Federer. Federer also punched his ticket to the final four after cruising past Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in their Monday’s quarterfinals showdown. The Swiss Master recorded 5 aces and 38 winners on his way to a three-set victory over the former US open champion. Federer and Nadal have been in numerous Grand Slam confrontations before, prompting many to expect their upcoming semis to be another classic game between the two greatest tennis players of all-time.
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Chip Kelly decided Monday not to accept the coaching offer from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to fulfill an ‘unfinished business’ with the Oregon Ducks. According to ESPN, Kelly backed down from the Bucs coaching gig to guide the Ducks to another shot at the national title after falling short in 2011 against the Auburn Tigers. Kelly, who steered the Ducks to elite status with a 34-6 record and three conference titles in three seasons, said he was flattered by the Buccaneers’ willingness to adapt his football philosophy into the team but his heart remains at Oregon. “I am flattered by the interest of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ organization. I enjoyed meeting with the Glazer family and general manager Mark Dominik but after numerous discussions, I concluded that I have some unfinished business to complete at the University of Oregon,” Kelly said in a statement released by the school. Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens lauded Kelly for his decision to stay with the program. “We are pleased with Coach Kelly’s decision to remain as our head coach,” Mullens told ESPN Monday. “Coach Kelly has provided great leadership and remains committed to building on our position among the elite college football programs in the country.” The Buccaneers, who fired head coach Raheem Morris after 4-12 season, will now focus on the remaining list of applicants, which include coordinators Rob Chudzinski (Carolina Panthers), Jerry Gray (Tennessee Titans) and Mike Zimmer (Cincinnati Bengals), Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach Tom Clements, and former NFL head coaches Brad Childress and Marty Schottenheimer.
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Football powerhouse Navy will be joining the Big East for 2015, a source close to situation reported Tuesday. The Midshipmen are expected to announce their intention to join Big East in the coming weeks, abandoning their independent status for good. After losing Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the ACC and TCU and West Virginia to the Big 12, the Big East will add San Diego State and Boise State in football and UCF, SMU, and Houston for all sports discipline starting 2013.
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Eastern Conference ATLANTIC GP W L OTL PTS NY Rangers 46 30 12 4 64 Philadelphia 47 28 14 5 61 Pittsburgh 48 27 17 4 58 New Jersey 47 26 19 2 54 NY Islanders 47 19 22 6 44 NORTHEAST GP W L OTL PTS Boston 46 31 13 2 64 Ottawa 51 27 18 6 60 Toronto 48 24 19 5 53 Montreal 48 18 21 9 45 Buffalo 48 19 24 5 43 SOUTHEAST GP W L OTL PTS Florida 47 22 15 10 54 Washington 47 25 19 3 53 Winnipeg 49 22 21 6 50 Carolina 51 18 24 9 45 Tampa Bay 47 20 23 4 44 Western Conference CENTRAL GP W L OTL PTS Detroit 49 33 15 1 67 St. Louis 48 29 13 6 64 Chicago 49 29 14 6 64 Nashville 49 29 16 4 62 Columbus 48 13 29 6 32 NORTHWEST GP W L OTL PTS Vancouver 48 29 15 4 62 Colorado 50 26 22 2 54 Minnesota 48 23 18 7 53 Calgary 49 23 20 6 52 Edmonton 48 18 26 4 40 PACIFIC GP W L OTL PTS San Jose 46 26 14 6 58 Los Angeles 50 24 16 10 58 Dallas 47 24 21 2 50 Phoenix 49 21 20 8 50 Anaheim 47 18 22 7 43
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EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic W L PCT GB Philadelphia4 12 5 0.706 0.0 Boston7 7 9 0.438 4.5 New York 6 10 0.375 5.5 New Jersey 5 13 0.278 7.5 Toronto 4 13 0.235 8.0 Central W L PCT GB Chicago1 16 3 0.842 0.0 Indiana2 11 4 0.733 3.0 Cleveland8 6 9 0.400 8.0 Milwaukee 6 10 0.375 8.5 Detroit 4 14 0.222 11.5 Southeast W L PCT GB Atlanta3 13 5 0.722 0.0 Orlando5 11 5 0.688 1.0 Miami6 11 5 0.688 1.0 Charlotte 3 14 0.176 9.5 Washington 2 15 0.118 10.5 WESTERN CONFERENCE Northwest W L PCT GB Oklahoma City1 14 3 0.824 0.0 Denver2 12 5 0.706 2.0 Utah5 10 5 0.667 3.0 Portland 10 7 0.588 4.0 Minnesota 7 10 0.412 7.0 Pacific W L PCT GB L.A. Clippers3 9 5 0.643 0.0 L.A. Lakers 10 8 0.556 1.0 Phoenix 6 10 0.375 4.0 Sacramento 6 12 0.333 5.0 Golden State 5 11 0.313 5.0 Southwest W L PCT GB Memphis4 10 6 0.625 0.0 San Antonio6 11 7 0.611 0.0 Dallas7 11 7 0.611 0.0 Houston8 10 7 0.588 0.5 New Orleans 3 14 0.176 7.5
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Robert LiMandri tells The New York Times that a maintenance company did repair work on the elevator just before the Dec. 14 accident. New York City’s Buildings Department commissioner says maintenance work may have contributed to an elevator accident in which an advertising executive was crushed to death. He says that based on the investigation thus far, the repair work was believed to be a contributing cause, or the cause, of the accident. Suzanne Hart was killed at the 26-story Manhattan office tower. She worked for Y&R, the advertising agency formerly known as Young & Rubicam. The Manhattan district attorney also is investigating. No charges have been filed.
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Officials say divers searching the toppled Costa Concordia have discovered another body in the submerged cruise ship. The discovery on the third floor deck brings to 16 the number of bodies found since the Jan. 13 grounding. Officials at the Tuscan prefect’s office said Tuesday they couldn’t immediately confirm Italian news reports that the body was that of a woman. The discovery was made as a large platform carrying a crane and other equipment hitched itself to the shipwreck, signaling the start of preliminary operations to remove a half-million gallons of fuel from the ship’s tanks. Actual pumping of the oil isn’t expected to begin until Saturday, and will continue in tandem with search and rescue operations.
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Derrick Rose and Rip Hamilton scored 22 apiece and the Chicago Bulls cruised to a 110-95 win against the New Jersey Nets, 110-95, Monday at United Center. After missing three games due to a turf toe injury, the reigning MVP came out firing as he shot 9-for-16 from the field and 2-for-5 from three-point arc to keep the injury-riddled Bulls perfect at home. Rose also had 8 assists and Hamilton had a double-double with 22 points and 10 dimes in the game. Starting forward Luol Deng and backup forward Tak Gibson sat down due to injuries, but the Bulls showed their depth as Omir Asik and Ronnie Brewer filled up the slack by scoring in double digits. Deron Williams had 16 points and 10 assists and Jordan Farmer recorded a season-high 22 points for the Nets. The Bulls are on a four-game winning streak and hold a tight grip on the top spot of the Eastern Conference with a 16-3 record. The Nets, on the other hand, lost their seventh game on the road and dropped to 5-13 this season.
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Paul Pierce recorded 19 points, 7 assists, and 5 boards and Brandon Bass tallied 19 points and 8 boards off the bench as the shorthanded Celtics crushed the Orlando Magic Monday at TD Garden. The Celtics cruised to their second win in a row behind another excellent game from their captain, Paul Pierce. Coming off a near triple-double performance in the Celtics’ win over the Washington Wizards Sunday, Pierce shot 6-for-14 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line to lead the Celtics offense. Bass continued to be a force off the bench while Kevin Garnett had a solid game with 14 points and 10 boards. Superstar center Dwight Howard chalked up 18 points and 14 boards, but he was the only Magic player in double figures. The Magic shot 16-for-65 overall from the field, succumbing to a Celtics team that missed the service of starting guard Rajon Rondo and shooting guard Ray Allen.
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Tim Duncan drained a go-ahead running hook-shot with 1.4 seconds left in regulation and the San Antonio Spurs squeaked past the New Orleans Hornets, 104-102, Monday at New Orleans Arena. Duncan recorded a season-high 28 points, and more importantly, delivered the biggest shot of the game as the two-time MVP somehow knocked down a running hook shot over the outstretched arm of Emeka Okafor. Spurs point guard Tony Parker also had a big night with 20 points and 10 boards, while Thiago Splitter chipped in 12 points and 7 boards off the bench. On the other hand, The Hornets got steady contributions from Jarret Jack (26 points, 9 assists, and 6 boards), Trevor Ariza (18 points, 6 boards, and 5 dimes), and Carl Landry (18 points and 8 boards), but it was not enough to foil down the Spurs. The Spurs (11-7) gained only their second road win this season. Meanwhile, the Hornets (3-14) sustained their eighth straight loss.
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Kyle Lowry booked his second career triple-double and Kevin Martin dazzled with 31 points as the Houston Rockets extended their winning streak to seven games with a 107-92 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves Monday at Target Center. Lowry tallied 16 points, 10 boards, and 10 assists to spearhead Rockets against head coach Kevin Mchale’s former team. The Wolves, who are ironically coached by former Rockets coach Rick Adelman, leaned on the star forward Kevin Love, who finished with 39 points and 12 boards. Wolves rookies sensation Ricky Rubio dished out 12 dimes but finished with 6 points on 2-for-10 shooting and committed five turnovers. The Rockets (10-7) captured their seven straight victory while the Wolves (7-10) suffered their second loss in a row.
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Rudy Gay scored 23 points, including three points in the final second of the match, and the Memphis Grizzlies rallied from 20 points down to beat the Golden State Warriors, 91-90, Monday at Oracle Arena. Gay knocked down a fade-away jumper and a free-throw in the last 23 seconds as the Grizzlies escaped with a one-point win in Oakland. The Grizzlies poured in 39 points in the fourth quarter to engineer the comeback win. Grizz point guard Mike Conley had 20 points and 9 dimes and center Marc Gasol had 15 points and 11 boards in the game. Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry combined for 38 points for the Warriors, who dropped to 5-11 in the season. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies (10-6) tied their franchise best seven-game winning streak and suddenly emerged as one of the elite teams in the Western Conference following a slow start.
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Michael Clair is scheduled to be sentenced next Monday after pleading guilty last week in New Bedford Superior Court to a variety of charges, including defrauding Medicaid of $130,000 assault and battery, illegally prescribing prescription drugs and witness intimidation. A former dentist in Massachusetts has pleaded guilty to Medicaid fraud for using paper clips instead of stainless steel posts in root canals. Prosecutors say the 53-year-old Clair was suspended by Medicaid in 2002, but continued to file claims from August 2003 to June 2005 by using the names of other dentists in his Fall River practice. Authorities say instead of stainless steel posts for root canals, he used sections of paper clips — which can cause pain and even infection — in an effort to save money.
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The DuPont Co.’s fourth-quarter earnings dipped slightly on higher costs but topped Wall Street expectations. The company reported net income for the quarter of $373 million, or 40 cents per share, on Tuesday. That’s lower than $376 million, or 40 cents per share, in the previous year’s fourth quarter. Higher costs for materials and a higher tax rate contributed to the decline. The earnings topped analyst expectations for 33 cents per share. Full-year earnings totaled a record $3.5 billion, or $3.68 per share, up from $3.05 billion, or $3.28 per share, the year before. DuPont said acquisitions in health and nutrition and industrial biosciences helped boost last year’s bottom line. In December, DuPont cut its 2011 earnings forecast due to weaker demand in several sectors, including electronics and industrial supplies.
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