Business news in brief

In the Region

Profits rise for GlaxoSmithKline

GlaxoSmithKline reported improved profits for all of 2011, including the fourth quarter, compared with the same periods in 2010, because of savings from restructuring of the company. Based in London, Glaxo has about 5,000 employees in the Philadelphia area, with 1,300 in Center City. Glaxo said it made $8.3 billion in net profit in 2011 after making $2.6 billion in 2010. The 2011 full-year sales revenue was $43.4 billion compared with nearly $45 billion in 2010. With turbulence in European countries, CEO Andrew Witty said the company focused on collecting payments owed and then "swept" funds out of local banks, bringing the money back to the United Kingdom.

- David Sell

Oracle rejects court award by SAP

Database software maker Oracle Corp. has formally rejected a court-ordered award of $272 million from German rival SAP AG, saying it would rather have another trial over SAP's theft of software and customer-support documents. A jury awarded Oracle $1.3 billion in the case in November 2010, but a federal judge cut that amount in September. Oracle, based in Redwood City, Calif., said then that it would seek a new trial. SAP, which has U.S. headquarters in Newtown Square, admitted that a now-closed subsidiary pilfered Oracle's intellectual property. Oracle argued that helped SAP undercut Oracle. - AP

Capozzi to lead Realtor group

Barbara A. Capozzi of Capozzi Real Estate & Insurance in Philadelphia has been elected president of the Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors for 2012. The group's directors are Realtors Allan Domb, Mike McCann, L. Anthony Brown, Ori Feibush, Joseph Rey, Mary Louise Butler, Curt Gasper, Chuong Van Tran, and William Festa; developer Jon Orens of Orens Bros.; Delaware County Council Vice Chairman Mario Civera; former Philadelphia Councilman Frank DiCicco; Paul Garvey, senior director of brokerage services at Cushman & Wakefield; and economist Kevin Gillen, vice president of Econsult Inc.   - Alan J. Heavens

Merck experimental drug shows risk