Profit

AmerisourceBergen Inc., one of the nation's largest wholesale drug suppliers, reported profit increases for its fourth quarter and 2012 fiscal year, both of which ended Sept. 30. Based in Chesterbrook, the company said its full-year revenue declined from about $80 billion to about $79.5 billion, but net income increased by 1.7 percent, to $719 million. AmerisourceBergen also said it plans to sell its subsidiary, AndersonBrecon, a contract pharmaceutical packaging business. CEO Steven Collis said in a conference call with analysts that the unit was profitable by itself, but AmerisourceBergen had not generated the anticipated extra cash from the division's connection to the main operation.

Drugmaker Merck & Co. Inc. said its third-quarter profits rose 2 percent in part because it cut costs to offset generic competition against key products. Merck is based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., and has several facilities in the Philadelphia region. Merck reported a profit of $1.73 billion for the quarter ending Sept. 30, vs. $1.69 billion for the same period in 2011. Sales revenue fell from just over $12 billion to $11.5 billion for the latest quarter. Worldwide revenue from Merck's top-selling drug, the diabetes medication Januvia, grew 15 percent from $846 million to $975 million.

AstraZeneca P.L.C., which is based in the United Kingdom but has a big operation in Wilmington, said its third-quarter profit dropped more than 50 percent, indicating the challenge ahead for new chief executive officer Pascal Soriot. "We are facing patent challenges for some products, but we have growth platforms," Soriot said in a conference call Thursday. Soriot departed Roche and stepped into his new job on Oct. 1. Right away, he stopped a stock buyback program to preserve cash.

US Airways Group Inc. and Delta Air Lines posted higher quarterly profits Wednesday and said the revenue environment ahead looks fairly good. US Airways, which is in talks with bankrupt American Airlines about a potential merger, said third-quarter profit more than doubled to $192 million, or 98 cents a share, from $95 million, or 51 cents a share, a year earlier. That beat analysts' average estimates of 92 cents. "That's our second-best third-quarter profit in company history," US Airways chief executive Doug Parker said during a call with investors.

Johnson & Johnson's third-quarter overall sales grew 6.5 percent and profits dropped 7.3 percent compared with the same period in 2011, as two of the health care giant's Philadelphia-area businesses were key elements in the good-and-bad financial picture. J&J is famous for Tylenol, Band-Aid bandages and shampoos, but this consumer segment is the last of the three divisions in sales, in part because the McNeil Consumer Healthcare facility in Fort Washington has been shut down since 2010, and the entire consumer unit is operating under legal restrictions.

Airlines are expected to post solid profits for the third quarter, with fuel prices edging lower. But analysts said they foresee that the industry could hit turbulence the last three months of the year, with business travel bookings softening as companies scale back because of the uncertain economy. Earnings reports will begin next week, with American Airlines reporting on Wednesday and Southwest Airlines Co. on Thursday. "We expect the nine major U.S. airlines to produce a solid third quarter," analyst Ray Neidl of Maxim Group L.L.C.

Stocks closed out their worst week since June after investors looked over third-quarter corporate earnings reports and decided there wasn't much to get excited about. The big indexes were mixed on Friday. But they were all down more than 2 percent for the week. That was their worst weekly showing since the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3 percent for the week ending June 1. On Friday, the S&P closed down 4.25 points at 1,428.59. The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 2.46 points to close at 13,328.85, giving up an earlier gain of 75. The Nasdaq composite lost 5.30 points to close at 3,044.11.

Four years ago, President George W. Bush signed into law the biggest corporate rescue in American history. Even as U.S. unemployment has remained above 8 percent for 43 months, the country's biggest banks are making almost as much as they ever have. The combined $63 billion in profit reported by the six largest U.S. lenders over the four quarters through June is more than they earned in any calendar year since the peak in 2006. Bank of America Corp. made more in the 12-month period than Walt Disney Co. and McDonald's Corp.

Prime Healthcare Services Inc., a California for-profit hospital operator, said it completed its purchase of Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol - which had been running out of cash to operate - in a deal that calls for Prime to invest $10 million in Lower Bucks within five years, hire all 950 employees, and honor union contracts. Prime will assume the liabilities the 156-bed Lower Bucks had when it exited bankruptcy in January. Those debts include a $1.2 million note to unsecured creditors, a $2 million mortgage on a surgery center, and $500,000 owed on a $1 million note to Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

For the third time in 15 years, Claudia B. Timbo has started a new call center up in Blue Bell. This time, she's calling it CompanyVoice , and leasing a floor of a vacant Aetna Inc. building on Harvest Drive - enough space for 125 people - with options to take the three other floors as business grows. Timbo says her new clients include law firm Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson L.L.P. , which handles homeowner tax claims for the City of Philadelphia , Continental Bank , and trucking companies seeking sales leads.