Business Briefing
AIRLINES
American posts loss of $344 million
American Airlines ended 2009 with a loss and 2010 could have a rocky start if the carrier loses a key partner in Asia.
AMR Corp., parent of American, says it lost $344 million in the fourth quarter as traffic fell and many business travelers stayed home or bought cheaper tickets.
Now American is scrambling to hold on to a valuable partnership with Japan Airlines. JAL filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday, and news reports in Japan say the airline wants to dump American and form a partnership with Delta Air Lines Inc.
INSURANCE
General Re to settle charges
General Re Corp. has agreed to pay $92.2 million to settle charges by federal authorities and shareholder claims over its alleged role in accounting misconduct schemes by American International Group Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc.
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the settlements with Gen Re, which is part of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the company led by billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
The SEC said Gen Re would pay $12.2 million to settle the SEC’s civil charges over AIG and Prudential and an additional $19.5 million in a nonprosecution agreement with the Justice Department settling a criminal probe of transactions with AIG.
The SEC said Gen Re would also pay $60.5 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit by AIG shareholders.
INTERNET
EBay profit more than triples
EBay Inc. said its fourth-quarter profit more than tripled, largely because of the sale of its Skype telecommunications business.
The company said it also saw growth in its PayPal payments business and a holiday shopping season that was healthier than the year before.
EBay, which runs online auctions and e-commerce sites, earned $1.36 billion, or $1.02 a share, in the quarter that ended in December. This compares with $367 million, or 29 cents, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items, EBay earned 44 cents a share -- 4 cents more than analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected.
Revenue rose 16% to $2.37 billion, beating analysts’ estimates.
EBay sold Skype in November and reported a gain of $1.4 billion from Skype in the quarter.
EBay shares fell $1.03 to $22.23.
UTILITIES
Sempra names SoCalGas CEO
Sempra Energy has named Michael W. Allman, 49, president and chief executive of Southern California Gas Co., the company said.
Allman has been president and CEO of Sempra Generation since 2006.
Jeffrey W. Martin, 47, vice president of investor relations for Sempra Energy since 2006, will become president and CEO of Sempra Generation.
BEVERAGES
Starbucks reports 276% profit jump
Starbucks Corp. said people spent more money in its stores during its fiscal first quarter, and its profit nearly quadrupled.
The world’s largest coffee chain said it earned $241.5 million, or 32 cents a share, for the three months ended Dec. 27, a 275.6% increase. A year earlier, it earned $64.3 million, or 9 cents a share.
Starbucks’ sales rose 4% to $2.72 billion.
Analysts had expected the Seattle company to earn 28 cents a share on revenue of $2.65 billion.
Starbucks shares fell 29 cents to $23.29.
-- times wire reports
