Business Briefing
GASOLINE
Rising oil prices show up at pump
The average pump price for a gallon of regular gasoline jumped 8.1 cents to $2.999 in California and 4.7 cents to $2.702 nationwide for the week that ended Monday, a government report showed.
The California and U.S. averages were up nearly 40% from a year earlier, according to the weekly survey of fuel retailers by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Analysts attributed the increase to rising oil prices and the annual switch to more expensive summer fuel blends to meet tougher pollution standards from April to September.
EARNINGS
Edison profit drops slightly
California electric utility Edison International said its fourth-quarter profit fell, but the results were still ahead of what it and analysts had expected.
The company earned $212 million, or 65 cents a share, down from $217 million, or 66 cents, a year earlier.
Revenue fell 5.5% to $3 billion.
Not counting discontinued operations, the company earned 59 cents a share.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected profit of 41 cents a share on revenue of $3.69 billion.
The company said the profit decline was mostly because of lower earnings at its Edison Mission Group, partially offset by better results at Southern California Edison.
Dish Network beats forecasts
Dish Network Corp., the satellite television provider, posted a fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates after luring customers with discounts and increased advertising.
Net income fell to $179 million, or 40 cents a share, the Englewood, Colo.-company said. Analysts in a Bloomberg survey projected 32 cents on average.
Dish added 249,000 subscribers after airing “Why Pay More” ads that claim it charges $24 less a month than rival DirecTV for the same service. Dish’s sales rose 1.4% to $2.96 billion, compared with the $2.94-billion average analyst estimate.
Customer turnover, or churn, decreased to 1.64% last year from 1.86% in 2008.
AVIATION
AIG unit seeks to sell aircraft
American International Group Inc.’s plane-leasing unit is pursuing the potential sale of aircraft for as much as $3.5 billion.
International Lease Finance Corp. is evaluating bids, the Los Angeles-based plane unit said in a regulatory filing.
-- times staff and wire reports
