Earnings roundup: Merck, Domino's Pizza

Among the earnings stories for Tuesday, May 4, from AP Financial News:

-- Drugmaker Merck & Co. said double-digit sales growth for a half-dozen of its top medicines and favorable currency rates fueled a 7 percent jump in first-quarter sales, but large charges for its November deal to buy Schering-Plough Corp. pulled profit down sharply.

-- Domino's Pizza Inc. said its first-quarter profit climbed as traffic improved mainly because customers continued to respond to its revamped pizza.

-- Trucking company YRC Worldwide Inc. reported a slightly wider first-quarter loss as harsh winter weather in January and February hurt shipments in the weakest quarter of the year.

-- El Paso Electric Co. said it earned $11.4 million in the first quarter, up 19 percent from a year earlier because of colder winter weather and a growing customer base.

-- Checkpoint Systems Inc., which makes clothing tracking devices for suppliers and retail stores, reported a profit for its first quarter, helped by improving conditions in its core markets.

-- Zebra Technologies Corp. said its first-quarter profit more than doubled from a year ago as demand improved.