Skip to content
Business
Link copied to clipboard

Business news in brief

An exhibitor adjusts a Sony Corp. digital camera mounted to a drone, developed by Flairics GmbH & Co., at the Commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle show in London. Last month's decision to approve drones for filming movies in the United States may create opportunities for other industries, from crop dusting to mapmaking, that see value in unmanned aircraft.
An exhibitor adjusts a Sony Corp. digital camera mounted to a drone, developed by Flairics GmbH & Co., at the Commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle show in London. Last month's decision to approve drones for filming movies in the United States may create opportunities for other industries, from crop dusting to mapmaking, that see value in unmanned aircraft.Read moreCHRIS RATCLIFFE / Bloomberg

In the Region

AbbVie-Shire breakup official

As expected, AbbVie Inc., of Chicago, and Shire P.L.C., which has 1,000 employees in Chester County and is headquartered in Ireland, agreed to terminate what would have been the biggest U.S. tax inversion. AbbVie pulled its support for the tax-saving $52 billion deal in the wake of proposed changes to U.S. rules governing such transactions. AbbVie said it would pay Shire a breakup fee of $1.64 billion. The pharmaceutical deal is the largest casualty of rules announced last month by the Treasury Department to make tax-inversion deals more difficult. - Bloomberg News

EU watchdog eyes DuPont

The DuPont Co. and Honeywell International may be violating antitrust rules in their cooperative venture to supply the only automotive air-conditioning refrigerant that meets European standards for greenhouse gas emissions, regulators said. DuPont, based in Wilmington, and Honeywell, based in Morristown, N.J., created a partnership in 2010 to develop the refrigerant after the European Union adopted new environmental standards. On Tuesday, the commission sent a formal statement of objections to the companies, saying the panel's preliminary view is that the cooperative agreement to produce the refrigerant, known as 1234yf, may have limited its availability and technical development, in violation of EU antitrust rules. - AP

Fed sees nonfactory growth

The Philadelphia region's nonmanufacturing economy grew in the first half of October, though a key measure of full-time employment retreated, according to a survey of businesses by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. About 62 percent of respondents reported increasing activity at their own firms, compared with 18 percent who reported decreasing activity, the Philly Fed said. Part-time employment increased sharply, but 15 percent of firms reported a decrease in full-time workers, compared with 10 percent in September. - Reid Kanaley

Jobless rate down in Pa., N.J.

Unemployment rates fell in 31 U.S. states in September, including in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the U.S. Labor Department said. Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted rate fell to 5.7 percent from 5.8 percent in August. New Jersey's declined to 6.5 percent, from 6.6 percent. Unemployment rates rose in eight states and were unchanged in 11 states. That is the smallest number of states to see an increase since April. The national unemployment rate for September was 5.9 percent. - AP

Elsewhere

Looser borrowing rules ahead

Both banks and borrowers stand to benefit from new rules unveiled by six federal agencies. While banks will see relaxed guidelines for packaging and selling mortgage securities, fewer borrowers likely will need to make hefty down payments. The board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. voted, 4-1, Tuesday to adopt the new rules, and two other agencies approved them as well. The Federal Reserve has scheduled a vote for Wednesday, and two other agencies are expected to adopt the rules soon. The rules for the multitrillion-dollar market for mortgage securities will take effect in a year. - AP

Home sales rise

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose in September to the highest level in a year, adding to signs that residential real estate will be a plus for the economy. Closings, which usually take place a month or two after a contract is signed, advanced 2.4 percent to a 5.17 million annual rate, the National Association of Realtors reported. Purchases rose 1.9 percent from the same month last year before adjusting for seasonal patterns. - Bloomberg News

McDonald's profit sinks

McDonald's Corp., the world's largest restaurant chain, said third-quarter profit fell 30 percent as U.S. sales slumped for the fourth straight quarter. Net income dropped to $1.07 billion, or $1.09 a share, from $1.52 billion, or $1.52, a year earlier. Sales at McDonald's U.S. stores open at least 13 months fell 3.3 percent in the third quarter, trailing the 2.9 percent decline estimated by analysts in a Consensus Metrix survey. - Bloomberg News

Daimler unplugs from Tesla

Daimler AG, the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars, sold its stake in Tesla Motors Inc., the electric-car company. Daimler had a 3.9 percent stake in the Palo Alto, Calif.-based automaker, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The share sale generated about $780 million in cash for the Stuttgart, Germany-based automaker. Work on Mercedes electric-drive cars has been completed, and the company said it would continue buying power train components from Tesla. Cooperation between the companies is unaffected, Daimler said. - Bloomberg News

GM to warn on Vibe air bags

General Motors Co. plans to warn about 85,000 owners of 2003 and 2004 Pontiac Vibe hatchbacks not to allow front-seat passengers until defective air bags are replaced. The overnight letters will go out "as soon as possible" and the Vibe owner group may grow, a spokesman for Detroit-based GM said. The largest U.S. automaker and Toyota Motor Corp. jointly built the Vibe. The government issued an urgent public warning Monday that cars with components made by Takata Corp. may deploy air bags with so much force that a metal part could rupture and strike occupants. - Bloomberg News