AMY SANCETTA / Associated Press
A Barnes & Noble store in Woodmere, Ohio. The bookseller posted a larger-than-expected loss for the third quarter yesterday, saying significantly lower customer traffic and spending drove down profit. Book sellers are facing competition from online retailers and are also suffering amid the economic decline. B&N gave little indication the holidays would be much brighter.
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Posted on Fri, Nov. 21, 2008
Business news in brief
In the Region
Realignment in health systems
The Jefferson Health System Inc., which parted with Albert Einstein Healthcare Network earlier this year, is now splitting with Frankford Health Care System Inc. as well. Frankford, which operates Frankford Hospital, Frankford Hospital-Torresdale and Frankford Hospital-Bucks County, will remain "closely affiliated" with Jefferson, but not as a member of the system, according to a joint news release. The "realignment" needs regulatory approval and is unlikely to take effect before the end of the year. The two systems said they could "best serve their respective communities as independent organizations which maintain substantial business and clinical ties." - Stacey Burling
Phila. area compensation up 4.6%
Even as the economy sheds jobs and as unemployment mounts, Philadelphia-area workers have seen the highest upward trend in compensation in the nation, the U.S. Labor Department said. The report does not compare actual costs, but shows how the costs are changing. From September 2007 to September 2008, total compensation, which includes wages and benefits, rose 4.6 percent. By contrast, compensation growth slowed in Boston, New York and across the nation. Nationally, compensation grew 2.8 percent year-over-year, compared with a 3.1 percent gain from September 2006 to September 2007. - Jane M. Von Bergen
US Airways restores some mile perks
US Airways Group Inc. said some of its frequent fliers would have their preferred bonus miles and preferred minimum miles reinstated as the airline tries to keep that segment of its customer base happy during worsening economic conditions. US Airways and other companies, such as United Airlines, began to reduce their frequent-flier miles this year to cut costs. US Airways, which carries two-thirds of Philadelphia's passengers, said customers in its dividend-miles program would have bonus miles that reflect their preferred status starting yesterday. The company will give retroactive credit to customers' December account statements for bonus-qualifying travel between Aug. 6 and Wednesday. In addition, the airline reinstated the minimum credit of 500 miles. - AP
Green light for a Glaxo drug
GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. said yesterday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval for Promacta for the treatment of thrombocytopenia, a disorder in which there are not enough platelets in the blood, in patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura, or ITP, who have had an insufficient response to corticosteroids, immunoglobulins or splenectomy. Glaxo, which is based in London but has large operations here, said the drug was the first oral treatment for this disease, which affects 60,000 people in the United States yearly. - Miriam Hill
Pharma firm gets Defense funds
Morphotek Inc., Exton, said it would receive $1.6 million in additional funding from the Department of Defense to continue developing treatments for infectious diseases. The privately held company received $1.7 million in initial funding from the department in June. The project involves therapies aimed at staphylococcal-derived toxins. Morphotek said its technology neutralized the toxic effects of pathogens caused by biowarfare. Morphotek is working on the project with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Fort Detrick, Md. The biopharmaceutical company specializes in the development of protein and antibody products. - Paul Schweizer
Safety program targets falls
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has joined the Steel Erectors Association of Metropolitan Philadelphia & Vicinity Inc. and the Iron Workers Local Union 401 in a program to promote workplace safety and health and to provide training, with a particular focus on fall prevention. After transportation accidents, falls are the second-most-common cause of workplace deaths nationally, according to a recent OSHA report. - AP
Elsewhere
Treasury to backstop mutual fund
The Treasury Department said it was prepared to buy assets from a troubled money market mutual fund, part of an effort to prevent any disruptions to financial markets. The department has agreed to be a buyer of last resort to assist in the liquidation of the Reserve Fund's U.S. Government Fund due to "unique and extraordinary circumstances." Under the arrangement, the fund has 45 days to find buyers for its assets. After that, the Treasury will step in and buy any remaining shares to ensure that each shareholder receives $1 for every share he or she owns. - AP
Fuld replacement named at Lehman
A restructuring expert overseeing the liquidation of Lehman Bros. Holdings Co. will replace Richard Fuld as chief executive officer Dec. 31, Lehman lawyer Harvey Miller said. Chief restructuring officer Bryan Marsal of Alvarez & Marsal has been overseeing the wind-down of what was once the nation's fourth-largest investment bank. Lehman will also hire David Goldfarb, a former Lehman chief strategy officer, to help with the wind-down. It will pay him $500,000 for six months of work with the possibility of a $500,000 bonus. Fuld had faced pressure from critics who accused him of contributing to Lehman's demise. He has been a target of public outrage over risky practices on Wall Street that helped send the economy into turmoil. Lehman first announced Nov. 5 that Fuld would leave. - AP
Downgrade for Mohegan Sun parent
Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, owner- operator of the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut, got its second downgrade in six months from Moody's Investors Service. The new peg is down two steps to "B1," while the senior subordinated notes are three pegs lower at "B3." The new Moody's rating is one grade below that issued last week by Standard & Poor's. The tribal authority also operates a slot machine and harness-racing facility called Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Pennsylvania. - Bloomberg News
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