Also
* Boeing Co., hurt by a slowdown in the market for commercial satellites, said it has begun a second round of job cuts at its satellite-making unit in El Segundo, slashing 800 positions on top of the 1,050 that it had announced in February. The unit warned employees that it would have to eliminate an additional 500 jobs by year-end if market conditions don’t improve. That would bring the total number of job cuts to 2,350, or about 25% of Boeing’s satellite work force.
* Boeing Co., Loral Space & Communications Ltd.’s SkyBridge venture and four other communications companies won approval from the Federal Communications Commission to offer high-speed Internet access through a new kind of satellite service.
* Vivendi Universal, the world’s second-largest media company, sold a French publisher of trade magazines for $1 billion, raising about half the amount it initially sought. Vivendi, which is selling the business to buyout firms Cinven Ltd., Carlyle Group Inc. and Apax Partners, was forced to cut the price of the unit because of a drop in the ad market. * Billionaire Ron Burkle, one of Kmart Corp.’s biggest investors, asked a Bankruptcy Court judge to order the appointment of a panel of shareholders to give them a formal voice in the retailer’s Chapter 11 case.
* United Parcel Service Inc. said first-quarter profit fell 3.3% to $563 million, or 50 cents a share, as sales edged up 1.9% to $7.58 billion.
* PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. said it would cut $897 million from the value of its assets in the first quarter, joining a long list of companies moving to comply with stricter accounting guidelines.
The Santa Ana-based health insurer said the one-time charge will increase earnings by $56 million, or $1.60 a share, for the full year as related amortization costs are taken away.
* Walt Disney Co. said it will reopen its 1,008-room Port Orleans French Quarter hotel after a six-month closure as more tourists visit the company’s Walt Disney World theme parks and resorts in Florida in the rebounding economy.
