The Supply Side: Nestle divestiture, J&J profits slide

• Nestle’s Mexican baby food unit up for sale
Nestle will sell the assets of a baby food business it purchased from Pfizer in an $11.85 billion deal last year.

The federal competition commission, Cofeco, says Nestle must also transfer assets including a food processing plant to the third-party buyer to limit Nestle's share of the Mexican baby food market.

Under the terms of the agreement, Nestle will not be able to operate Pfizer's Mexican brands for 20 years, giving the third party time to establish itself.

Nestle is a supplier to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and has a large sales office in Rogers.

• Retailers expand financial services
Costco members can apply for a mortgage or a boat loan during their weekly shopping trips,

Home Depot DIY-ers can secure a home-improvement loan before they pick out their paint colors, and Wal-Mart shoppers can cash paychecks, pay bills and get their taxes done while they shop.

About one in 12 U.S. households don't have savings or checking accounts, according to the FDIC, and big box retailers are increasingly catering to those consumers' financial services needs

• J&J profits slide
Johnson & Johnson’s first-quarter profit fell by 10% as increased sales were offset by higher costs for production, marketing and administration, plus charges for litigation and other items.

Net profits totaled $3.497 billion, downed from $3.910 billion in the year-ago period.

The maker of baby shampoo, prescription drugs and surgical tools said revenue for a range of products is being hurt by "pricing pressures" from insurers and government health programs.

The company reported sales of $17.5 billion for the first quarter of 2013, an increase of 8.5% as compared to the first quarter of 2012.  

Johnson & Johnson is a supplier to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and operates a large sales office in Rogers.