FDA releases Canada OJ results, more due next week

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators on Friday cleared the way for the first shipments of imported orange juice to enter the country since January 4, when authorities began testing for an illegal fungicide discovered in juice products from Brazil.

The Food and Drug Administration said final tests confirmed that three samples of Canadian orange juice were negative for the fungicide carbendazim. The sample findings allowed corresponding shipments from Canada into the U.S. market.

But there was no word about Brazilian orange juice, which has riveted industry attention and sent the commodities market for orange juice on its wildest rollercoaster ride in more than 20 years.

Test results have yet to be announced for 28 import samples from Brazil, Mexico and Canada. "Other samples are still pending and won't be released until next week," said FDA spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey.

In a move that suggested testing could continue for some time, the regulatory agency said it planned to set up an online fact sheet that would be updated on Fridays.

The fungicide scare began after Atlanta soft-drink giant Coca-Cola Co. discovered carbendazim in shipments from Brazil and alerted U.S. authorities about a potential industry-wide problem. Coke is the maker of Minute Maid orange juice.

Carbendazim is used in Brazil to combat blossom blight and black spot, a type of mold that grows on orange trees.

But in the United States, it can be used only in non-food items such as paints, textiles and ornamental trees. U.S. authorities still allow trace amounts of carbendazim in 31 food types including grains, nuts and some non-citrus fruits -- but not in citrus juice.

The FDA said low levels of carbendazim are not dangerous and the agency had no plans for a recall.

But U.S. action to halt any imports with detectable levels of the chemical fanned market worries about orange juice supplies. Uncertainty over the import clampdown has already caused exporters to postpone shipments to the United States.

Brands such as Tropicana, from PepsiCo Inc., and Coke's Minute Maid may contain a mix of juices sourced from Brazil and the United States.

The FDA said testing typically takes four to five business days when no carbendazim is found during initial screening, and an additional seven days if further tests are necessary.

U.S. officials will allow any imported products containing less than 10 parts per billion to enter the United States, but will refuse entry to anything with higher levels.

The European Union allows imports with up to 200 ppb. The Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates fungicides in the United States, considers several thousand parts per billion to be a health risk.

The chemical is banned in Australia.

The FDA said importers will have 90 days to export or destroy any product that has been refused.

(Additional reporting by Josephine Mason in New York)

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TiVo results jump thanks to legal settlement (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – TiVo Inc (TIVO.O), which makes digital video recorders, reported a quarterly profit, reversing a year ago loss, thanks to the blockbuster patent settlement it reached with Dish Network Corp (DISH.O) and EchoStar Corp (SATS.O).

TiVo posted a profit of $139 million, or $1.04 a share, compared with a loss of $14.2 million, or 13 cents a share, in the same period a year ago, it said on Tuesday.

The stronger results came as revenue fell 25 percent to $45.8 million in its fiscal first quarter and are largely a reflection of a $175.7 million gain from the settlement.

The agreement with Dish and EchoStar, both controlled by Charlie Ergen, called for an initial payment to TiVo of $300 million, with another $200 million to be paid in six equal annual installments between 2012 and 2017.

(Reporting by Paul Thomasch; editing by Andre Grenon)

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Foxconn sees dramatic improvement in 2011 results, shares jump (Reuters)

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Foxconn International Holdings Ltd, the world's top contract cellphone maker, expects a "dramatic improvement" in its 2011 results, its chairman told shareholders, lifting its shares as much as 15 percent to its biggest daily gain in more than a year.

The money-losing company, whose parent Foxconn Technology Group helps assemble Apple Inc's iPhones and iPads, has been struggling under a host of problems, including rising costs and labor unrest that have led to staff suicides at its sprawling production facilities in China.

It is due to be removed from Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index on June 7.

During a shareholders' meeting on Wednesday, a small group of protesters chanted slogans and held up banners, including one that read "Bloody Apple", to highlight the fight for workers' rights at Foxconn, a unit of Taiwan electronics giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd.

Foxconn International's shares, which had lost about 20 percent of their value since the start of the year, finished Wednesday up 11 percent . Intraday, the stock rose as much as 14.8 percent, the biggest one-day jump since December 2009.

Chairman Samuel Chin declined to elaborate on the results forecast. Analysts on average expect the company to post a net loss of $12 million for 2011, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"If you look at the first half, they should break even," said UBS analyst Arthur Hsieh in Taipei. "In the fourth quarter they will have a small profit."

"It's more because of the cost cuts. They have pretty much done a lot in terms of whatever they can scale down. They are relatively slim."

'DUMMY PHONES'

Foxconn International said it was banking on fast-growing smartphones and cost cuts, such as selling its Taiyuan operations to its parent, to improve its bottomline.

"Smartphones previously were a niche market. They have very much become mainstream products," Chin told a news conference after the shareholder meeting. "Today's smartphones will become tomorrow's dummy phones."

"With regard to smartphones, as I mentioned to you before, our R&D expenses have continued to increase and I can assure you that a tremendously high amount of that expense is focused primarily on smartphones/tablets," he said.

Foxconn International, whose customers include Nokia, Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, logged another loss for the second half of 2010 as the company struggled to regain its footing amid rising costs and falling prices.

About 70 percent of its revenue comes from Nokia and Motorola.

Shipments of smartphones, which allow users to surf the Internet, take pictures, and send email as well as make phone calls, are expected to grow to 97.2 million units this year, up from 55.8 million last year, industry figures showed.

But some analysts cautioned that the strong feature-phone focus of Foxconn International's client base could make it difficult for the company to perform well in the near future.

(Editing by Chris Lewis and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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Computer glitch voids green card lottery results

Millions apply for 50,000 permanent visas issued a year "We regret any inconvenience this might have caused," State Department saysResults from a new lottery will be announced in July

(CNN) -- The State Department apologized for a computer glitch that invalidated results for thousands who thought they were chosen in the most recent green card visa lottery.

Millions of people worldwide apply for the 50,000 permanent resident visas issued a year to relocate to the U.S.

A computer randomly picks would-be immigrants who then undergo interviews, background checks and medical exams before visas can be issued.

"Due to a computer programming problem, the results of the 2012 diversity lottery that were previously posted on this website have been voided," the State Department said in a statement Friday. "We regret any inconvenience this might have caused."

The results of lottery were not valid, and the drawing will be redone.

"They did not represent a fair random selection of the entrants, which is required by U.S. law," said David Donahue, a deputy assistant for the State Department.

The issue has been resolved and officials expect to do another selection in July, Donahue said.

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