Posted on Thu, Oct. 30, 2008
In the Region
Jones Apparel's profit plummets
Bristol clothing-maker
Jones Apparel Group Inc. said third-quarter profit nosedived because of slower sales and the elimination of two sportswear lines. For the quarter ended Oct. 4, net income dropped 93 percent to $27.3 million, or 33 cents a share, from $400.1 million, or $3.97 a share, a year earlier. The company said that excluding restructuring costs and discontinued operations, it earned 34 cents a share. Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected profit of 33 cents a share. The year-earlier quarter's profit was helped by a $90.9 million income-tax benefit, which was only partly offset by hefty restructuring costs.
- AP
Exelon lays out merger savings
Exelon Corp., Chicago, the parent of
Peco Energy Co., said it expected to cut operating expenses 3 percent to 5 percent a year through its proposed merger with
NRG Energy Inc. That translates into annual savings of $180 million to $300 million, Exelon said in a government filing. Merger costs of $600 million would offset part of the savings, according to the filing. The $6.2 billion, all-stock deal for Exelon to buy NRG, Princeton, was announced Oct. 19. NRG has not yet responded to the buyout offer.
- Paul Schweizer
SRC authorizes bond sale
The
Philadelphia School Reform Commission authorized the sale of $396 million in general-obligation bonds to finance district projects. Michael J. Masch, the district's chief business officer, said $282 million would provide funds to continue the district's capital program, including building new schools. About $114 million will be used to refinance old debt from a multijurisdictional bond pool out of Dauphin County. The district obtained a blended interest rate on the total package of 5.8 percent: 6.11 on the capital bonds and 5.56 percent on the refinanced debt.
- Martha Woodall
Local firms see big Medicaid growth
Independence Blue Cross and
Aetna Inc., two major insurers in the Philadelphia market, have experienced the greatest growth nationally in the number of people covered with Medicaid managed-care insurance,
HealthLeaders-InterStudy, which researches managed-care plans, reported this week. Independence Blue Cross' Medicaid managed-care enrollment climbed to 749,287 in January from 456,792 in July 2007. Aetna's grew to 137,149 from 27,506 over the same period.
- Jane M. Von Bergen
Rohm shareholders approve buyout
Shareholders of Philadelphia specialty-chemicals-maker
Rohm & Haas Co. approved a $15.3 billion buyout by the
Dow Chemical Co. The deal is expected to close early in 2009, pending regulatory approval. Rohm & Haas will become a subsidiary of Dow.
- AP
Valero to upgrade N.J. plant
Valero Energy Corp. plans to upgrade a 45,000-barrel-a-day diesel hydrotreater at its Paulsboro refinery. The project, which is scheduled for completion in 2011, will reduce the amount of sulfur in diesel produced at the plant,
said Bill Day, a spokesman for the refiner.
- Bloomberg News
Constar delisting deadline delayed
Constar International Inc. says its threatened delisting from the Nasdaq market has been delayed until next year. The Philadelphia maker of plastic containers for the food and beverage industries announced in a release that a recent Nasdaq rule change now allows it to achieve compliance by March 16. Constar had been told Sept. 10 that it was in danger of being delisted because it did not have a minimum market value of $15 million, and that it had until
Dec. 10 to comply by increasing its market value for 10 consecutive trading days.
- Roslyn Rudolph
Ikon starts tender offer for notes
Ikon Office Solutions Inc. said it had begun a cash tender offer to buy its 7.75 percent notes due 2015. In August, the Malvern company, which sells and leases copiers and printers, agreed to be acquired by
Ricoh Co. Ltd. for $17.25 a share. Ikon said the acquisition of the notes was conditioned on completing that merger.
- Miriam Hill
Elsewhere
Lawmakers question bonuses
Leaders from both parties expressed concern that a taxpayer-funded bailout of the financial industry would be used to pad the pockets of executives rather than get the economy rolling again. The top Republican in the House and the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate sent letters to Treasury Secretary
Henry M. Paulson Jr. asking about how the $700 billion in bailout funds would be used. And New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has asked nine banks that are getting a piece of the Wall Street bailout to turn over information about how they are spending money on executive bonuses. A
Treasury Department spokeswoman said that using the funds for acquisitions was within its broad goal of spurring more lending, asserting: "It's in no one's interest to have unhealthy banks that are unable to play the role of lenders in the economy, who threaten the financial system."
- AP
Justice Department approves merger
The
Justice Department has approved the much-anticipated merger between
Delta Air Lines Inc. and
Northwest Airlines Corp., clearing the way for the creation of the world's largest airline.
- AP
Average airline fares higher
Average U.S. airfares for the three months ended June 30 were the highest in 13 years, according to the
Transportation Department. Domestic fares rose 8.1 percent in the second quarter, compared with the same quarter a year earlier. The average domestic fare in Philadelphia jumped 8.5 percent to $338.15, compared with $311.70 in the second quarter of 2007, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics said. The average domestic fare nationally in the second quarter was $352. The highest fares were in Cincinnati, and the lowest were at Dallas Love Field. Fares are up because airlines' fuel bill this year will be "north of $50 billion," said David Castelveter, spokesman for the
Air Transport Association, the airline trade group.
- Linda Loyd
Yields mixed on money funds
The average seven-day yield on taxable money market funds was 1.54 percent this week, up from 1.45 percent last week, according to
iMoneyNet Inc. The average yield on tax-free funds was 1.81 percent this week, down from 2.54 percent last week.
- Rhonda Dickey
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