IN BRIEF

PITTSBURGH

Alcan urges investors to reject buyout bid

Canadian aluminum maker Alcan on Tuesday urged its shareholders to reject a hostile $27 billion takeover bid by U.S.-based rival Alcoa, saying the offer failed to reflect the company’s value.

Yves Fortier, chairman of Alcan’s board of directors, said in a statement that the board had thoroughly evaluated Alcoa’s offer and concluded it was not in the best interests of Alcan shareholders.

“It does not adequately reflect the value of Alcan’s extremely attractive assets, strategic capabilities and growth prospects, does not offer an appropriate premium for control of Alcan, and is highly conditional and uncertain,” he said.

Alcoa launched its cash and stock bid for Montreal-based Alcan earlier this month, after almost two years of private talks failed to produce a negotiated agreement.

BOSTON

Staples reports higher profits during quarter

Office supply retailer Staples said first-quarter profits rose 12 percent in the first quarter, when listless domestic sales growth was offset by strong gains in its office products delivery business and overseas operations.

Framingham-based Staples said its net income for the three-month period ended May 5 rose to $209.1 million, or 29 cents per share, up from a profit of $186.1 million, or 25 cents per share, in last year’s first quarter.

Sales rose 8.3 percent to $4.59 billion from $4.24 billion.

Nintendo sees U.S. Wii sales hitting 35 million

Nintendo Co. expects to sell as many as 35 million Wii video-game consoles in the United States, close to the record 38.2 million PlayStation 2 players sold by Sony Corp.

The company will reach its goal by 2011 or 2012, George Harrison, marketing chief at Nintendo of America, a unit of Kyoto-based Nintendo Co., said Tuesday.

Nintendo is increasing Wii production at factories in China to meet demand, Harrison said from Seattle. The company has sold 2.5 million Wii players in the U.S. since the console was introduced in November.

XM restores service after one-day outage

XM Satellite Radio restored service Tuesday after a software glitch knocked out the signal from one of its four satellites and disrupted service to many of the company’s 8 million subscribers for about a day.

The problems began around noon Monday, the company said. XM initially expected to fix the problem after a few hours but service remained disrupted for about 24 hours.

A company spokesman said he had no information on how many customers experienced outages or weak signals. Internet message boards suggested the problem was widespread.

ST. LOUIS

Anheuser-Busch says it’s on track for target

Brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos. said Tuesday it is on track to meet its 2007 earnings-per-share growth target of 7 percent to 10 percent, but said its second-quarter profit would come in below Wall Street’s current projections.

Chief Executive Officer August Busch IV told stock analysts that the nation’s biggest brewer planned to cut between $300 million and $400 million in costs over the next four years. Busch said the company plans to grow revenue by selling premium beers and launching a select group of nonbeer beverages in growing markets.

In the second quarter of 2006, the company earned 82 cents per share. The 90 cents consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial for the current quarter implies growth of 10 percent.

CINCINNATI

Smaller laundry-soap jugs planned by P&G

Procter & Gamble Co. will try to convince consumers that less is better when it comes to laundry detergent.

The company Tuesday detailed its plans for the rollout of “Tide 2X Ultra” and other increased-concentration liquid detergent brands. They are supposed to wash the same amount of clothes with half the detergent, from containers about half the standard size, but at the same price as current versions.

The Cincinnati-based consumer products company will begin selling the detergents in the southern United States and Puerto Rico this September and will fully convert to the smaller versions by April.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.

Alltel Corp. stockholder sues over buyout offer

An Alltel Corp. stockholder has sued the wireless provider, claiming the company’s proposed $24.7 billion buyout is “grossly unfair and far below the maximum value.”

The lawsuit, which requests class-action status, was filed Monday in Chancery Court in Wilmington, Del., by Lon Engel of South Carolina. Engel’s suit names the company, Chief Executive Scott T. Ford and other past directors of Alltel as defendants.

Alltel is incorporated in Delaware, but its corporate headquarters are in Little Rock.

Engel’s lawsuit asks the court to stop the proposed buyout of the company.

NEW YORK

Bond prices decline amid market sell-off

U.S. Treasurys took a hit Tuesday, as the market sold off amid a heavy slew of corporate bond issuance and with investors growing even more downbeat on government bonds.

At 5 p.m. EDT, the 10-year Treasury note was down $3.44 per $1,000 in face value, or 0.03 points, from its level at 5 p.m. Friday. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, rose to 4.83 percent from 4.79 percent.

The 30-year bond fell 0.69 points. Its yield rose to 4.98 percent from 4.94 percent.