Biz Buzz

LONG ISLAND

Veeco net income plunges 62%

Veeco Instruments Inc.'s second-quarter net income plummeted 62 percent to $19.2 million, from $49.9 million the year before, the Plainview based high-tech storage device company announced Thursday. The company attributed the drop in part to its exit from a solar panel business. Revenue rose 20 percent to $264.8 million, from $221.4 million the year before. But earnings per share dropped 61 percent to 45 cents, from $1.15 a year earlier. The company makes equipment used to manufacture LED lighting, solar panels, hard disk drives and other devices.

-- CARRIE MASON-DRAFFEN

LI exterminators' 15 minutes

A new reality TV show scheduled to start next month on the Animal Planet channel will track the rodent-control activities of an extermination company that serves Nassau County and Queens, an online trade publication says. In a six-part series, "Rat Busters NYC" will follow the day-to-day forays of Jimmy Tallman and Michael Morales, pest-control experts of Magic Exterminating of Queens, realscreen.com reports. Suburban Exterminating, in Smithtown, is Magic Exterminating's Suffolk County service center. The Rat Busters series launches Aug. 26 at 10 p.m. and "follows service managers Jimmy and Michael, a comedic dynamic duo with a brother-like kinship, as they tackle rat families bigger than their own, and other metropolitan pests like roaches, mice, bedbugs, raccoons and pigeons," according to the network. -- JOSEPH MALLIA

United Capital cease trading

In a voluntary move by Great Neck-based United Capital Corp., the real estate investment trust's shares ceased trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange and will instead be listed over the counter. Its new symbol is UCAP. The delisting move was announced last month. At the same time, the United Capital board decided to make an offer to buy back all its 3.6 million shares of common stock. United Capital, which has a manufacturing division and a hotel ownership division -- including Radisson and Marriott properties -- said it delisted in part because its stock was very thinly traded, with fewer than 300 holders. -- JOSEPH MALLIA

NATION

Home sales contracts inch up

The number of people who signed contracts to buy homes rose for a second month in June. But the gain was not enough to signal a rebound in the weak housing market. The National Association of Realtors reported this week that its index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes rose 2.4 percent in June to a reading of 90.9. A reading of 100 is considered healthy by economists. The last time the index reached that level was in April 2010, the final month when buyers could qualify for a federal tax credit. [Newsday has previously reported that on Long Island and Queens, June's 2,753 pending sales represented jumps of 8.6 percent from May and 22 percent from a year earlier, when buyers took a breather after a key deadline for the federal home buyers tax credit had expired.] -- AP

Starbucks profits up a third

Starbucks Corp. brewed up a hot third quarter, reporting Thursday that its profit rose 34 percent to beat expectations. The world's largest coffee retailer said that despite tough economic times, more people are visiting its stores than last year at this time, and they're spending more. Starbucks raised its full-year forecast based on the strong trends. Starbucks, based in Seattle, has been a standout recently as consumers have begun spending a bit more on small indulgences and the company's more aggressive business strategy has paid off. The company earned $279.1 million, or 36 cents per share, for the quarter that ended July 3. That's up from $207.9 million, or 27 cents per share, earned in the same quarter last year. Revenue rose 12 percent to $2.93 billion. Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 34 cents per share on revenue of $2.83 billion, according to FactSet. Starbucks also said it plans to add 800 stores in the 2012 fiscal year. Shares of Starbucks rose 57 cents in after-hours trading to $40.55. -- AP