Business news in brief

Gov. Corbett announced $6.4 million in Economic Growth Initiative grants to health-care institutions in Southeastern Pennsylvania. The grants were part of $13.65 million awarded statewide. Abington Health received $3 million, the biggest in the state, to build a cancer center in Upper Moreland Township. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital received $1.5 million to reconfigure its labor-and-delivery area and to double its size to 16,000 square feet. Temple University Health System was awarded $1 million for project at Fox Chase Cancer Center and $500,000 for work on an electrical substation at Jeanes Hospital. The Wistar Institute received $400,000 for renovations to its cancer research building. - Harold Brubaker

The University of Pennsylvania reported investment gains of 17.5 percent in the year ended June 30. The value of Penn's endowment rose to $9.6 billion, an increase of $1.8 billion from a year earlier, the Ivy League school said in a statement. The three-year average return at Penn was 10.9 percent while the 10-year was 8 percent. Penn trailed fellow Ivy Leaguer Dartmouth College as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which have both posted annual investment returns of 19.2 percent. Endowments and foundations on average earned 15.6 percent in fiscal 2014, according to an estimate by Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service. - Bloomberg News

Energy company Range Resources has agreed to pay a $4.15 million fine for problems at a Western Pennsylvania site that handled natural-gas drilling waste. It's the largest penalty the state has ever imposed on the shale gas industry. Range, which is based in Fort Worth, Texas, said Thursday that it accepted the Department of Environmental Protection fine and is "deeply disappointed" that the violations occurred. The fine was imposed for leaks at open pits Range operates to store the so-called flowback waste from natural gas wells. - AP

Allentown-based industrial gas producer Air Products said it was reorganizing "with the goal of regaining industry leadership." Chief executive officer Seifi Ghasemi said in a statement that the company would achieve that "by first reorganizing our industrial gases segment on a geographic basis, and move to a decentralized, simpler, and more efficient structure which creates true profit-and-loss accountability at many levels of the organization." The other groups in the reorganization are materials technologies, energy from waste, and corporate, the company said. - Inquirer staff

Camp Hill, Pa.-based Rite Aid Corp. reduced its full-year earnings forecast after it said lower reimbursement rates and higher costs for drugs hurt profit. The drugstore chain said in a statement that it expected net income for fiscal 2015 is expected to be from 22 cents to 33 cents a share, after previously forecasting 30 cents to 40 cents. Rite Aid also reduced the top end of its full-year sales forecast, saying revenue was now expected to be from $26 billion to $26.3 billion. "We do not have as much profitability from new generics as we've had in the past," CEO John Standley said, referring to prescription drugs. - Bloomberg News

Dunkin' Donuts, looking to phase out its signature foam cups, is testing recyclable-plastic versions to see if they can withstand temperatures of 200 degrees Fahrenheit while helping preserve the environment. Stores recently started using polypropylene hot-coffee cups in about 100 locations in New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, and California, Scott Murphy, chief supply chain officer at Dunkin' Brands Group Inc., parent of the business, said. Dunkin' will probably make a decision on a foam cup alternative next year, he said. - Bloomberg News

Oracle Corp.'s Larry Ellison stepped down as chief executive officer of the software maker he founded, making way for a new generation of executives and ending one of the most profitable runs for a leader in business history. Mark Hurd and Safra Catz, current co-presidents of Oracle, were both named CEOs to replace Ellison. Hurd will run sales, marketing and strategy, while Catz will remain chief financial officer and oversee legal and manufacturing operations. Ellison will become chairman, replacing Jeff Henley, and take on the title of chief technology officer. - Bloomberg News

Santander Holdings USA Inc., a subsidiary of Spain's Banco Santander SA, agreed to strengthen its capital-distribution oversight after paying a dividend this year without U.S. Federal Reserve approval. The bank has branches in the Philadelphia region. Santander declared a dividend on common shares payable in the second quarter even though the regulator had only approved distribution on some preferred shares in the lender's capital plan, according to an agreement disclosed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Madrid-based Banco Santander gave $21 million to its U.S. unit to address the violation, the Fed said. - Bloomberg News

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was sued by Oxfam America Inc. for failing to issue a rule requiring energy and mining companies to disclose payments to governments for the extraction of natural resources. The disclosures, authorized by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law, would be "a huge boost in the fight against corruption, mismanagement, and poverty," the relief and development group said. The suit was filed in Boston federal court. - Bloomberg News

The Home Depot said it had eliminated malware from its U.S. and Canadian networks that affected 56 million unique payment cards between April and September. The Atlanta-based home improvement retailer said it had also completed a "major" payment security project that provides enhanced encryption of customers' payment data in the company's U.S. stores. Home Depot also is confirming its sales-growth estimates for the fiscal year and expects to earn $4.54 per share in fiscal 2014, up 2 cents from its prior guidance. - AP