Friday, February 4, 2005

Nation/World Briefs

Detroit News staff, wire and Bloomberg News reports

Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

 

Cable TV

Comcast Corp.'s profits jump 10.4%

Comcast Corp., the nation's biggest cable TV system operator, said Thursday its profit rose 10.4 percent in the fourth quarter, beating Wall Street estimates. Philadelphia-based Comcast, which has 1.4 million customers in Michigan, reported net income of $423 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31. That compares with $383 million, or 17 cents per share, in the final three months of 2003. The cable operator reported revenues of $5.24 billion on the quarter, up from $4.74 billion a year ago. Comcast beat the 11 cents a share consensus forecast of analysts.  

 

Airlines

Hundreds apply for jobs at US Airways

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Despite hourly pay as low as $7.52, hundreds of job seekers applied for work Thursday at bankrupt US Airways as the airline seeks to expand operations at Reagan National Airport near Washington. About 300 applicants crowded into a job fair eager to work as baggage handlers and customer representatives. US Airways spokesman David Castelveter said the company is looking to hire about 200 workers, mostly baggage handlers, at Reagan. While the airline has been downsizing and laying off workers in other cities, it is actually expanding at Reagan, where it is launching service this weekend to Detroit, Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas and Houston.

 

Finance

Sears Holdings 1 grade below investment

Sears Holdings Corp., the new company formed from the Kmart Holding Corp.'s acquisition of Sears, Roebuck & Co., will be rated one notch below investment grade by Standard & Poor's Ratings Service. The combined company's debt will be rated "BB+," the highest noninvestment level, S&P said. Sears, based in Hoffman Estates, Ill., has been investment grade since at least 1958, spokesman Chris Brathwaite said. Troy-based Kmart, the No. 3 U.S. discount retailer, agreed to purchase Sears, the largest U.S. department-store company, for about $11 billion next month.

 

Automotive

AutoNation's profits more than double

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- AutoNation Inc., the nation's largest car dealer, said its fourth-quarter profit more than doubled, boosted by revenue growth and income from discontinued operations. The Fort Lauderdale-based company, which owns 358 new-vehicle franchises in 17 states, on Thursday reported net income of $161.8 million, or 60 cents a share, compared with $79.1 million, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier. Income from continuing operations rose to 43 cents a share from 31 cents a share a year earlier. Revenue rose 9 percent in the latest quarter to $4.84 billion from $4.44 billion a year earlier.

 

Telecommunications

Sprint's quarterly profits grow to $437M

Sprint Corp., the third-largest U.S. mobile-telephone carrier, said fourth-quarter profit surged as growing demand for wireless calling boosted sales. Net income rose to $437 million, or 29 cents a share, from $110 million, or 8 cents, a year earlier, when profit was cut by costs for scrapping a billing system. Sales rose 3.7 percent to $6.93 billion from $6.68 billion, Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint said Thursday. CEO Gary Forsee, who's buying Nextel Communications Inc., is betting on higher demand for wireless services to combat a slump in local and long-distance calling. The mobile-phone unit's sales were $3.84 billion in the quarter.

 

 

Euro cars to have automatic help phones

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- All new vehicles in Europe should be equipped to make automatic emergency calls by 2009, according to European Union safety plans announced Thursday. The new technology, named eCall, can be triggered manually by a button or automatically by airbag deployment or crash sensors. The car then uses GSM communication to pinpoint its location. The system is expected to reduce emergency response times and could save an estimated 2,000 lives a year if used to the full extent in all 25 E.U. countries.  

Mercury outboard dumping charge fails

TOKYO -- The U.S. International Trade Commission said imports of outboard engines for leisure boats from Japan are not hurting American rivals, Kyodo News reported. The ITC, a quasi-judicial federal agency, overturned a preliminary ruling issued last August by the Commerce Department to slap an antidumping duty of 22.52 percent on engines made by Yamaha Motor Co. and other Japanese manufacturers. The ruling was in response to a petition filed by U.S. outboard engine maker Mercury Marine Group, based in Fond Du Lac, Wis., that claimed Japanese imports were priced unfairly low.

Unions strike over state aid for Fiat Auto

TURIN, Italy -- Italy's three largest metalworkers' unions called for a national strike to highlight the need for private or state investments in Fiat Auto, the unprofitable car unit of Fiat SpA, Italy's largest manufacturer. The unions will strike for eight hours on March 11 and organize a rally in Rome to call for government intervention in the auto industry. The decision to strike comes a day after Fiat failed to reach an agreement with General Motors Corp. over Fiat's option to sell the car unit to GM. The two companies disagree over the legality of the option and may go to court over the issue. Fiat's Italian January car sales fell 13 percent from a year earlier and its market share dropped to 27.8 percent from 30.6 percent as consumer confidence declined.

Two Toyota parts suppliers agree to merge

TOKYO -- Two auto parts affiliates of Toyota Motor Co.p., Japan's largest carmaker, agreed to merge in April next year to cut costs and eliminate overlapping operations. Bearing maker Koyo Seiko Co. will acquire Toyoda Machine Works Ltd., which makes machining equipment, in a transaction that values Toyoda Machine at $1.4 billion.

 

 

Finance

European Central Bank maintains rates

FRANKFURT, Germany -- The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged Thursday, with Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet saying recent economic indicators suggest a moderate recovery remains on track. The widely expected decision by the bank's 18-member governing council left the bank's key refinancing rate at 2 percent. The rate has been unchanged for 20 straight months since a half-point cut in June 2003. Most observers think the central bank's next move will be an increase to ward off inflation as the economy grows.