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Business news in brief

In the Region

Bank loss widens on loan write-offs

Wilmington Trust Corp. wrote off $135.1 million in bad loans in the second quarter, more than in the four preceding quarters combined. At the same time, the Delaware bank boosted its provision for future loan losses by $205.2 million, by far the largest such provision since the downturn began in 2007. What happened at the bank, which got a new chief executive in the quarter and had long touted its ability to work with borrowers to avoid charge-offs? Did the bottom drop out of the economy in Delaware or did the bank change its approach to troubled loans? Bank officials denied a change in methodology, attributing the spikes to big declines in the value of properties used as collateral, the worsening financial conditions of borrowers, the lack of positive economic signs, and the increase in loans past due by 90 days. During a conference call to discuss the results, analysts were skeptical. The stock fell 9 percent, or $1, to close at $9.88. - Harold Brubaker

Kimberly-Clark 2Q net income higher

Kimberly-Clark Corp., the maker of Kleenex tissues, said higher selling prices and cost cuts helped its second-quarter net income rise 24 percent. But revenue fell short of expectations, and the company lowered its revenue guidance for the year. Net income for the three months ended July 30 rose to $498 million, or $1.20 per share, from $403 million, or 97 cents per share last year. Revenue rose 3 percent to $4.86 billion. Kimberly-Clark, Dallas, employs more than 800 at a plant in Chester that produces Scott toilet tissue and Scott paper towels. - AP

Approval sought for art sale

Bankrupt Advanta Corp. ask the judge handling its case in Wilmington for permission for the auction house Christie's Inc. to sell its corporate collection of 56 postwar and contemporary paintings, prints, and sculptures by European and American artists. The credit-card lender had previously estimated the value of the art at $4.3 million. - Harold Brubaker

Company drops acquisition plans

QuantRx Biomedical Corp., Doylestown, said it had abandoned plans for a subsidiary to acquire NuRx Pharmaceuticals, Irvine, Calif. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, QuantRx said it was acting under a provision allowing either party to call off the plan if the deal didn't close by June 30. QuantRx's acquisition of the company had been announced in January as an all-stock deal. QuantRx, which makes diagnostic products, said it incurred no penalty for its move. - Roslyn Rudolph

Board approves buyback

Polonia Bancorp, a Huntington Valley bank with five branches and $218 million in assets at the end of last year, said its board approved the repurchase of up to 67,032 shares. The stock, which trades over the counter, closed recently at $5. - Harold Brubaker

Two to compete for terminal work

Two teams were selected to compete to design, operate, and maintain the new marine terminal in South Philadelphia, Gov. Rendell's office said. One was a consortium of Delaware River Stevedores and Hyundai Merchant Marine America. DRS is a joint venture between Carrix Inc. and Ports America Group. The other group was SMT Development Partners, principally comprised of the Spanish-based Obrascon Huarte Lain S.A., with support by port engineering firm CH2M Hill. - Inquirer staff

Elsewhere

Bank failures top 100 this year

U.S. bank failures this year surpassed a bleak milestone of 100 as regulators shut down banks in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Kansas, Minnesota, and Nevada. The six bank seizures announced Friday bring to 102 the failures in 2010. The pace is well ahead of that of last year, which saw 140 banks shuttered. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says it took over Crescent Bank & Trust Co., Jasper, Ga., with about $1 billion in assets; Sterling Bank, Lantana, Fla., with $407.9 million in assets; Williamsburg First National Bank, Kingstree, S.C., $139.3 million in assets; Thunder Bank, Sylvan Grove, Kansas, $32.6 million; Community Security Bank, New Prague, Minn., $108 million; and SouthwestUSA Bank, Las Vegas, $214 million. - AP

Most European banks pass test

All but seven of 91 European banks passed the "stress tests" aimed at showing Europe's banking system is sound enough to weather the continent's debt crisis. Germany's already nationalized lender Hypo Real Estate Holding AG failed the test, but that had been expected. Spain had the most casualties, with five of its small savings banks deemed as having insufficient capital to deal with future shocks. Greece's ATE bank failed and confirmed it would proceed with a capital increase. - AP

Treasury announces additional sales

The Treasury Department said it would sell 1.5 billion shares of Citigroup Inc. stock over the next two months, the latest effort to recoup money from the government's $700 billion financial bailout. Treasury says the third phase of Citigroup stock sales would begin immediately and end by Sept. 30. The government has already sold 2.6 billion shares for $10.5 billion. Citi received $45 billion in taxpayer support in one of the largest bank rescues by the government. - AP

White House predicts record deficit

New estimates from the White House predict the budget deficit will reach a record $1.47 trillion this year. The government is borrowing 41 cents of every dollar it spends. That's actually a little better than the administration predicted in February. The new estimates paint a grim unemployment picture as the economy experiences a relatively jobless recovery. The unemployment rate, now averaging 9.5 percent, would average 9 percent next year under the new estimates. - AP

GE increases its dividend

General Electric Co. said it is raising its quarterly dividend by 2 cents because of its improving financial performance, the first increase since it slashed payments to shareholders last year to save cash. The company also said it would start buying its own shares again. GE will now pay 12 cents per share on Oct. 25, to shareholders who own stock at the close of business on Sept. 20. The conglomerate cut its quarterly dividend by 68 percent to 10 cents in February 2009, saying it needed to conserve cash after its GE Capital lending unit was overwhelmed by the financial crisis. - AP

Another A&P chief leaves post

Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. reported that its CEO stepped down as its loss widened in the first quarter. The operator of supermarkets - including 30 stores in the Philadelphia area under the A&P, Pathmark and Superfresh names - said former Office Max executive Sam Martin would take over as its second CEO in less than a year. He replaces Ron Marshall, who took over as A&P's CEO in January. A&P reported a first-quarter loss of $122.6 million, compared with a loss of $65.2 million a year ago. - AP

Walsh tapped as acting comptroller

The Obama administration said it chose a top staffer at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to head the agency temporarily. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced the selection of John G. Walsh, now the agency's chief of staff, as acting head of the bank regulatory agency. He will replace John Dugan, who said he would step down Aug. 14. - AP

Union leader takes college post

Andy Stern, the outspoken former leader of one of the nation's largest labor unions, will become a senior research fellow at Georgetown Public Policy Institute at Georgetown University. In 2005, Stern and his union, the 2.2-million-member Service Employees International Union, engineered a split in the AFL-CIO. Stern got his labor start in Philadelphia as a leader of SEIU Local 668, which represents state workers. - Jane M. Von Bergen

Amtrak to buy new cars

Amtrak said it would pay $298.1 million for 130 rail cars as part of a plan to replace its aging fleet. It will buy the cars from the U.S. unit of Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles SA, a Spanish train maker. - Bloomberg News