Financial Briefs 29077

Financial Briefs

Quebec-based Atrium Biotechnologies (www.atriumbio.com) purchased Pittsburgh-based HVL Inc. (www.douglaslabs.com), whose main brand is DouglasLaboratories; the 50-year-old Douglas markets 960health and nutrition products to more than 10,000 U.S. healthcare professionalsand currently posts annual revenues of about $80 million. Atrium will pay $107million, mostly in cash, for Douglas 6.4 times EBIDTA (earnings beforedepreciation, taxes and amortization). ... AtkinsNutritionals Inc. (www.atkins.com) has won preliminaryU.S. Bankruptcy Court approval of its plan to reorganize from a diet company toa nutritional food company, a plan supported by its lendors and unsecuredcreditors. A court hearing to confirm the reorganization plan was scheduled forDec. 21, 2005, at which time Atkins expected to win final approvaland emerge from bankruptcy. ... Nutritional food and beverage manufacturer XELR8Holdings (www.xelr8.com), also known as Vita CubeHoldings, reported a third quarter (3Q) net loss of$1.2 million, as marketing expenses and new product launches ate away the40-percent increase in quarter revenues. The growing company, which is endorsedby numerous professional and Olympic athletes and teams, said the impact of itsnew products and branding efforts will not manifest until late first quarterfiscal 2006. ... Spectrum Organic Products (OTCBB:SPOP)(www.spectrumorganics.com) posted a 26-percent 3Q revenues increase to $14.8million, a new company quarterly record driven by consumer demand for healthyoils. A slight decline in Spectrum Essentials sales were offset by significant gains in sales of Spectrum Naturals products as well as the companys privatelabel business. As a result, net income nearly quadrupled to$123,400.