Maker of Cold River Vodka adds gin to its product line

A Maine company that was one of the early boutique distillers with its Cold River Vodka has branched out by adding gin to its product line.

Maine Distilleries’ Cold River Gin, two years in the making, is handcrafted and batch-distilled in a copper pot still in Freeport — just like Cold River Vodka. The company says the gin is based on a 400-year-old recipe.

Cold River Gin went on sale in late July in Maine. It’s also hitting shelves this summer in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Maryland, Georgia and Washington, D.C.

Oracle Corp. accuses Google of patent infringement

Oracle Corp. said Thursday it has filed a patent and copyright infringement lawsuit against Google.

Oracle said in a statement that Google’s Android system for mobile phones infringes on Oracle’s patented Java technology.

In its complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Oracle said Google’s Android operating system software consists of Java applications and other technology. As such, it infringes on one or more parts of seven patents — something Google should know, Oracle argues, because it has hired former Java engineers.

Google spokesman Andrew Pederson said the company couldn’t comment because it had not reviewed the lawsuit.

Kohl’s income up 14 percent, but yearly outlook less rosy

Kohl’s second-quarter net income rose nearly 14 percent as the moderate-price department store chain continued to draw shoppers from rivals for its exclusive fashions, but job worries are making customers spend less per visit.

Kohl’s trimmed its yearly outlook because of spending to improve its e-commerce business and expectations for slowing sales growth in the second half of the year. Shares fell $1.28, or 2.7 percent, to $46.50 on the tepid outlook.

Kohl’s said its net income rose to $260 million, or 84 cents per share. That compares with $229 million, or 75 cents per share, last year.

World Cup gives brewer boost in quarterly sales

Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the world’s largest brewer, said Thursday that the World Cup helped push up sales in the second quarter, boosting net profit by 7.5 percent to $1.15 billion.

The producer of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck’s said results this year beat its own expectations and those of market analysts.

Revenue rose 4.1 percent to $9.2 billion in the second quarter.

Nordstrom credits discounts for 39 percent rise in profits

Nordstrom Inc.’s second-quarter profit jumped nearly 39 percent as shoppers flocked to its sales.

Nordstrom earned $146 million, or 66 cents per share, for the quarter that ended July 31. That’s up from $105 million, or 48 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

The company’s revenue rose nearly 13 percent to $2.5 billion.

Nordstrom, which operates its upscale department store chain and discounter Nordstrom Rack, credited the growth to sales momentum and three special sale events.