Financial News

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid has closed an offering of new debt from which it plans to generate funding for a buyback of older debt, the retailer said Tuesday.

Rite Aid announced the closing of its offering of $421 million in senior notes with a 9.25% interest rate and due in 2020. The company plans to use money from the offering to buy back 9.375% senior notes due 2015. As of Monday night, $296.3 million worth of the old notes had been put up for sale.

DUBLIN, Ohio — Cardinal Health has acquired regional wholesaler Dik Drug for an undisclosed price, according to published reports.

Dik Drug was founded in 1914 as a small repackaging distributorship that serviced the Chicago area. According to the company's website, Dik Drug warehouses more than 20,000 products.

WASHINGTON — U.S. retail sales slowed during the month of April, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday.

U.S. retail and food services sales for the month, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $408 billion, an increase of 0.1% from the previous month and 6.4% above the year-ago period. Retail trade sales were up 0.1% from last month and 6.1% above last year.

JERUSALEM — Net revenues for Teva rose more than 24% for the first quarter ended March 31, thanks to new drug launches and the company's acquisition of drug maker Cephalon.

First-quarter net revenues totaled $5.1 billion, compared with $4.1 billion in the year-ago period, while net income and earnings per share totaled $1.3 billion and $1.47 diluted earnings per share, an increase of 39% and 41%, respectively, compared with first quarter 2011.

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. — Dollar General has awarded grants to more than 593 nonprofit organizations, libraries and schools through the chain's literacy foundation.

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation awarded grants to schools and organizations in communities across the 39 states served by Dollar General. The funding, valued at more than $6.4 million, supports such programs as adult literacy, GED preparation and English language acquisition. Dollar General said more than 410,300 people are expected to benefit from literacy services provided by the grants.

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — The lackluster cough-cold season will necessitate a greater need for marketing and promotion next season, ProPhase Labs chairman and CEO Ted Karkus said on Thursday in announcing first-quarter results for the period ended March 31.

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Costco announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend on Costco common stock and approved an increase from 24 cents to 27.5 cents per share, or from 96 cents per share to $1.10 per share on an annualized basis.

The quarterly dividend is payable June 8 to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 25.

Costco plans to release its operating results for the third quarter, ended May 6, on May 24.

LONDON — GlaxoSmithKline is moving forward with its acquisition of Human Genome Sciences.

The drug maker said Thursday that it has commenced its previously announced tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Human Genome Sciences for $13.00 per share in cash, a premium of 81% to HGS's closing share price of $7.17 per share on April 18, the last trading day before HGS publicly disclosed GSK's private offer.