Also
* Washington Mutual Inc. said it would close 53 commercial-banking offices, including some in California, that serve large and mid-sized businesses, eliminating 850 jobs.
* The U.S., the European Union, Australia, Brazil and India agreed for the first time on cuts in farm aid by industrial nations, raising the chances that they will rescue global trade talks that have been languishing.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. July 31, 2004 For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday July 31, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 60 words Type of Material: Correction
Guess earnings -- A news brief in Friday’s Business section misstated earnings numbers for Guess Inc. The Los Angeles jeans maker said profit in the second quarter was $2.13 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with a loss of $5.45 million, or 13 cents, a year earlier. The item did not indicate that the year-earlier figure was a loss.
* A strong rebound at Chrysler helped DaimlerChrysler post a fivefold increase in second-quarter profit. Net income jumped to $670 million from $132 million a year earlier.
* Guess Inc., the Los Angeles jeans maker, said profit in the second quarter was $2.13 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with $5.45 million, or 13 cents, a year earlier.
* AT&T; Corp.’s debt was cut to junk by Moody’s Investors Service Inc. Moody’s cited “relentless” competition that would cause a longer, larger decline in revenue and profit.
* Yahoo Inc. Chairman Terry Semel reaped a $21-million payday by exercising 1 million stock options at $8.81 and then selling the shares at prices ranging from $29.85 to $30.05, according to Securities and Exchange Commission documents.
* Intel Corp. said it would miss its year-end target for delivering a high-speed Pentium 4 chip for desktop computers.
