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Business news in brief

In the Region

SEPTA terminal adjustments

SEPTA buses temporarily displaced from their terminals at the 69th Street Transportation Center are returning to their usual spots starting Jan. 4. The 104, 109, 110, 111, 112, 120 and 126 buses will again board at the West Terminal at the Upper Darby station. The buses had been displaced due to a $19.6 million reconstruction project at the 105-year-old station that has included improving lighting, roofing, platforms, ramps and adding security cameras. The project is still underway. - Jason Laughlin

Triumph CEO seeks consistency

Berwyn-based Triumph Group Inc.'s new chief executive officer said he'll put a stop to earnings misses, after the aerospace-parts maker has fallen short of analysts' expectations in six of the last 10 quarters. "A big part of my program is to become predictably profitable, and cash management will be a focus," Daniel Crowley said in an interview Wednesday. Earnings have been hurt by rising costs and aerospace programs that are winding down, such as for Boeing Co.'s C-17 transport plane and 747-8 jumbo jet. "I'm going to have the expectation that Triumph flies on every platform in the sky. We won't achieve that overnight, but that's my goal," he said. - Bloomberg News

Elsewhere

Pending home sales dip

Fewer people signed contracts to purchase homes in November, as the real estate market appears to have cooled after sales gains for much of 2015. The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index fell 0.9 percent to 106.9 last month. It was the lowest reading in 10 months.Signed contracts last month fell in the Northeast and West markets. - Associated Press

Shkreli's KaloBios bankrupt

KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc., which Martin Shkreli rescued from liquidation last month, filed for bankruptcy after his arrest knocked the biotechnology company's brief revival off course. Charged with securities fraud, Shkreli gained notoriety for hiking the price of a rare drug while running Turing Pharmaceuticals. KaloBios filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington. - Bloomberg News

Musk rockets make impact

Elon Musk's success in launching reusable space rockets means Russia must make its own projects cheaper as the cash-strapped country struggles to retain its share of the market, the country's defense-industry chief said. "The main goal today is to make space cheap," Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who is in charge of defense, told Rossiya 24 TV in an interview on Wednesday in Moscow. "Competitors are stepping on our toes. Look at what billionaire Musk is doing with his projects. This is very interesting, well done, and we treat this work with respect." Rogozin's comments follow the first successful liftoff and landing of a reusable spacecraft this month by Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. - Bloomberg News

Oprah ad lifts Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers International Inc. shares surged over the last two days after Oprah Winfrey debuted a campaign endorsing the weight-loss program. The celebrity and media mogul posted a video to her Twitter account about using Weight Watchers to lose weight. "Are you ready?" she asks in the clip. "Let's do this together." Winfrey, 61, announced her partnership with Weight Watchers in October, saying she would buy 10 percent of the stock and join the board. - Bloomberg News

Puerto Rico to default on debt

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said the commonwealth will default on about $37 million in bond payments due Jan. 1, escalating a conflict with investors as the island seeks to restructure its $70 billion debt burden. The island will default on $35.9 million of Puerto Rico Infrastructure Financing Authority debt and $1.4 million of Public Finance Corp. bonds. The $357 million of interest due on Puerto Rico's general-obligation debt will be paid. The lack of any legal framework to restructure debt has forced the commonwealth to decide which payments can be made with the few resources available. - Bloomberg News

Businesswomen honored

EasyJet Plc chief executive Carolyn McCall and Net-a-Porter Ltd. founder Natalie Massenet both became dames in a list of U.K. New Year's honors that singled out women in business, as well as distinguishing Debt Management Office CEO Robert Stheeman. Stheeman will get a knighthood, the male equivalent of a damehood, enabling him to put the title "Sir" in front of his name. They were among 1,196 recipients of honors in Wednesday's biannual awards granted in the name of Queen Elizabeth II. - Bloomberg News