The week that was

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) said its second-quarter profit soared 41 percent, easily surpassing Wall Street expectations with a boost from the results of newly acquired FleetBoston Financial Corp. The Charlotte-based banking giant said it earned $3.85 billion, or $1.86 a share, for the three months ended in June. That compared with a profit of $2.74 billion, or $1.80 a share, for the same quarter last year … Fisher Scientific International Inc. of Hampton and Apogent Technologies Inc. announced they are extending the expiration date for the consummation of their merger. The exchange of Apogent securities that would have financed the deal was to take place on or before 5 p.m. on July 16. The offer will now expire at 5 p.m. on Aug. 2. No reason was given for the delay … Fraser Papers Inc. is now a separate, publicly traded company, with shares selling on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol FPS. Parent company Nexfor spun off its timberland and paper assets into the new corporation. The remaining panelboard businesses were renamed Norbord (NBD), also traded on the Toronto exchange. The plan to split the company into two separate corporations was announced this March and approved by the shareholders earlier this month … Robotic Vision Systems Inc. (RVSI) said total products shipped to customers for its third fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2004, together with a limited number of finished systems held back for internal use, was approximately $18 million, an increase of about 56 percent from the comparable figure in 2004’s first fiscal quarter.