SINOVAC BIOTECH LTD (SVA) 7.55 -$0.30 (-3.82%) 08:37PM (15 mins delay)

Today's Big Losers: FIG, UTL, FE, SVA, GU

May 15, 2009 - 6:09 PM EDT

Alternative asset manager Fortress Investment Group (FIG) priced an offering of common stock at 5 dollars per share, raising 200 million dollars, 75 million more than originally planned. Fortress said it intends to use the cash to pay down debt under its credit facility, and may also use a portion of the proceeds towards investments in Fortress Funds. Shares fell 10% Friday, sinking below the offering price to trade at 4 dollars and 73 cents per share. Also tapping the capital markets is public utility company Unitil (UTL) which announced it intends to offer 2 million shares of common stock for sale. Unitil said it would use the offering proceeds to repay its bridge credit facility that was used to partially finance the acquisitions of Northern Utilities and Granite State Gas Transmission. Shares were off over 10% in morning trading. Power company FirstEnergy (FE) announced the results of an auction that determined the wholesale price paid to its Ohio utility companies. The new price beginning June 1st and lasting for a two year term will be 6.15 cents per kilowatt hour. FirstEnergy CEO Anthony Alexander said, "The economic slowdown has resulted in lower electric generation sales and significant bidder participation in the auction. The results of this auction will deliver lower overall average retail generation prices for our Ohio customers." Shares of FirstEnergy were off 11% Friday. Chinese vaccine company Sinovac Biotech (SVA) announced it broke even for the quarter, compared to earnings of 4 cents per share a year earlier. CEO Weidong Yin cited a "sales shortfall" in the quarter. The company announced it won a contract to provide hepatitis A vaccine to China's Ministry of Public Health, and is working on production of a new influenza faccine. Yin said Sinovac's R&D capabilities makes the company the only manufacturer in China with the license to produce pandemic influenza vaccines. Sinovac shares fell almost 12% Friday morning to just above 2 dollars per share. Shares of Chinese biodiesel company Gushan Environmental Energy (GU) fell 15%, after declining biodiesel prices caused an 18% revenue decline and drove the company to a quarterly net loss. Chairman Jianqiu Yu said, "The impact of the global economic slowdown, falling world oil prices and contraction in China's industrial production made for a very challenging environment." For Market News Video, I'm Nicole Dossous

Source: Market News Video (May 15, 2009 - 6:09 PM EDT)