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Business Briefs: Gas cost in Pittsburgh area drops a bit
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Gas cost here drops a bit
The cost of gasoline in Pittsburgh went down this week for the first time in several weeks, if only by a little bit. The average price for a gallon in the city was $3.838, down about seven-tenths of a penny from last week. The cost for a comparable gallon nationwide was $3.703, a drop of about three cents from last week, according to GasBuddy.com.
Bigger stake in Calgon Carbon
A New York investment fund that intends to nominate three of its principals to serve on Calgon Carbon's board has increased its stake in the Robinson environmental products and services firm.
Starboard Value disclosed it holds 9.2 percent of Calgon Carbon's shares, up from the 7.7 percent stake it disclosed in January.
It purchased the additional shares from Jan. 22 through Feb. 12 for between $15.70 and $16.46 per share.
Nova netted $11M for site
Nova Chemicals Corp. received $11 million from the sale last year of its Syntheon building products unit to Headwaters, a Sewickley investment firm. The price was disclosed in Nova's annual report. Syntheon has operations in Leetsdale. Nova said fourth-quarter profit fell to $57 million from $77 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 because of lower margins in its business segment that makes plastics used in consumer and industrial packaging. Sales were essentially flat at $1.1 billion both years. For the full year, profit declined to $544 million from $615 million in 2011. Full-year revenues slipped to $5.1 billion from $5.2 billion in 2011. Nova, based in Calgary, Canada, has about 400 employees at its operations center in Moon, and about 250 at a plant in Monaca, Beaver County.
Slim still world's richest
Mexico's Carlos Slim remains the world's richest man for the fourth year in a row with a net worth of $73 billion, according to Forbes, while Warren Buffett dropped out of the top three for the first time since 2000. Bill Gates of Microsoft Corp. held on to second place. Amancio Ortega was third. A record 1,426 people around the world made Forbes magazine's latest annual tally of billionaires. The U.S. continued to house the most billionaires in the world, with 442 of them. Pittsburghers on the list were Henry Hillman at 641, Richard Scaife at 1,031 and Edward Stack at 1,268.
Bayer unit cut 100 positions
Bayer HealthCare's Radiology & Interventional business in Marshall, formerly known as Medrad, eliminated 100 positions as of March 1, spokeswoman Alicia Cafardi confirmed. About 50 employees were affected and the other 50 or so positions were already vacant. She said the move was part of a consolidation "to increase competitiveness and assure continued sustainable growth."
MedCare, UPMC partner up
MedCare Equipment Co. of Greensburg, part of Excela Health, has added UPMC to its list of partners, offering home medical equipment and respiratory care products such as oxygen for patients. The company, which was started in 1987 and now employs 250 people in 15 locations, also works with the Conemaugh, Heritage Valley, Butler and Washington health systems, as well as Excela Health.
Retailer joins PIT Airmall
Airest Collezioni, an international travel retail operator based in Italy, will be making its debut at Pittsburgh International Airport as part of $10 million in upgrades to the Airmall. It will offer men's and women's fashions and accessories, fragrances and other items. Pittsburgh will represent the first North American location for the operator. "Their global reach and their relationships with the top brands worldwide make them the perfect partner for us as we transform the concessions program at Pittsburgh International Airport," said Jay Kruisselbrink, vice president of development for Airmall USA.
VW Golf named Car of Year
The Volkswagen Golf has been named Europe's Car of the Year by automotive journalists from more than 20 countries. Introduced in 1974 and recently redesigned, the hatchback is the company's mass-market flagship. The car left the competition in the dust Monday on the eve of the Geneva Motor Show, grabbing 414 votes. The Subaru BRZ, also sold as the Toyota GT-86, was second with 202 votes and the Volvo V40 third with 189 votes.
Also in business ...
Pittsburgh-based health and wellness retailer GNC Holdings Inc. announced Monday that C. Scott O'Hara, formerly president and CEO of Heinz North America, has been elected to its board of directors.
First Published March 5, 2013 12:30 am
