Sanofi-Aventis, French drugmaker, lifted its 2005 earnings forecast after announcing that 2Q adjusted net income advanced 26% to 1.55 billion euros. Sales were up 6.5% to 6.69 billion euros. The company also said that higher promotional costs boosted selling and general expenses by 1.2% to 2.03 billion euros. Research and development expenses were down by 1% to 979 million euros. It now envisages at least 20% growth in adjusted earnings for the year.

SWS Group, investment firm, announced that it will delay releasing 4Q financial results to review accounting for certain adjustable ratio securities. The company plans to wait until it files its annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission to release the financial reports, as its fiscal year ended on June 24. The securities in question are 5-year notes issued in fiscal 1999 as a hedge on appreciated stock of Knight Trading Group. The securities matured in June 2004. SWS shares declined 20 cents to $16.35 in afternoon trading on the NYSE.

United Natural Foods, distributor and retailer of natural and organic foods, posted 4Q net income of 28 cents per share, up vs.23 cents per share for the same period last year on a 21.6% increase in net sales, totaling $543.0 million. Wholesale revenue growth rose 19.3% for the current quarter compared to the previous year. The acquisition of Select Nutrition Distributors and higher fuel costs both had a negative impact on earnings per share. The Company has suffered higher than expected external costs associated with its compliance efforts under Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley.

CORPORATE NEWS

Goldman Sachs, Allianz, and American Express have signed a memorandum of understanding to invest $3 billion for a 10% stake in Industrial & Commercial Bank of China. The investment would be made after the bank is set up as a stockholding company in mid-October.

After three-week-long negotiations Boeing submitted its final offer for another three-year contract with the mechanics who assemble its jetliners, but will most probably fail to meet the workers’ requirements as according to the unions the offer which includes an increase in pension benefits has little improvement compared with the previous ones.

MCI is near a $315 million settlement with 15 states and the District of Columbia, which have claimed the company owes them a total of about $750 million in back taxes from when it operated as WorldCom. Resolution of the claims will remove a lingering risk for MCI, which has agreed to sell itself to Verizon Communications for $8.4 billion. Under the companies' agreement, Verizon could cut its payment for MCI by as much as 21 cents a share, or about $68 million, if MCI's liabilities top $1.78 billion.