The government's pension insurer Wednesday appealed a bankruptcy court judge's approval of the $280-million-a-year concessions agreement between Delta Air Lines and its pilots.
The appeal by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. filed with the U.S. District Court in New York was terse and did not make an argument.
An appeal of the May 31 ruling by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Adlai Hardin was expected.
NEW YORK
Pfizer fields bids for products business
Pharmaceutical company Pfizer received bids worth more than $14 billion for its consumer products business, which includes brands such as Listerine mouthwash and Lubriderm skin lotion, according to a published report.
The bidders included GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson and Reckitt Benckiser, the British company that makes Lysol, Woolite and other household cleaning products, according to the report Wednesday in The New York Times, which quoted unnamed people involved in the auction.
Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Glaxo and Reckitt Benckiser all declined to comment on the report.
Albertsons planning to close 100 stores
Albertsons, the supermarket chain partly controlled by private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, plans to close 100 stores, or about 16 percent of its locations, because they are unprofitable.
The grocer will shut 37 stores in Northern California, 30 in Texas, 16 in Colorado, nine in Arizona and eight in Florida, spokeswoman Stacia Levenfeld said Wednesday. The outlets are expected to be closed by early August.
WASHINGTON
Contract terms to be imposed on controllers
The Bush administration on Wednesday won its battle to impose its own contract terms on air traffic controllers.
The House voted 271-148 in favor of a bill to send the administration back to the bargaining table with the controllers' union. But the vote fell short of the two-thirds majority required to pass the measure under House rules.
Union president John Carr said a clear bipartisan majority of the House wants the contract negotiations with the Federal Aviation Administration reopened and resolved.
Negotiations had gone on between the FAA and the union for nine months before the agency declared an impasse in April.
Once talks break down, the law says the FAA can impose its last and best contract offer if Congress does not intercede within 60 days.
The 60-day period ended Monday.
Vestin trust reports loss for third quarter
Vestin Realty Mortgage II, a real estate investment trust, on Wednesday reported a third-quarter net loss of $1.7 million, down from a loss of $2.9 million a year ago. The loss per share declined to 6 cents from 9 cents.
In a statement, the REIT said the current-quarter loss stemmed from a $5.5 million, noncash loan loss provision for a loan to Rightstar, which operates funeral homes and cemeteries in Hawaii.
Vestin II and Vestin Realty Mortgage I are suing so that they can foreclose on the loan collateral. The loss in the third quarter last year was attributed to the writedown of real estate held for sale.
Quarterly revenue rose 28.8 percent to $7.6 million.
Wynn Las Vegas buying rights to show
Developer Steve Wynn's flagship resort, Wynn Las Vegas, will pay $15.9 million to buy the rights to its headline show "Le Reve" from creator Franco Dragone to add lights, lasers and perhaps more performers.
The sum, revealed in a filing by Wynn Resorts Ltd. to the Securities Exchange Commission on Tuesday, will pay for "substantially all rights in and to the show and to repay certain unreimbursed excess production costs," the filing said.
The move came as competition for entertainment dollars on the Las Vegas Strip intensified and the artistic community was still reeling from Tuesday's surprise announcement that the musical "Hairspray" was ending its run at the Luxor hotel-casino after less than four months due to poor ticket sales.
Ingrid Jensen, marketing adviser for Dragone's company, Productions du Dragon S.A., said Wynn asked Dragone personally to make the changes but Dragone was too busy with other projects, such as the Montreal-based show "Le Graal," to take them on.
DENVER
Vail Resorts earnings top Street forecasts
Vail Resorts, the owner of Heavenly Ski Resort, reported higher skier visits and record net income for the fiscal third quarter Wednesday, beating Wall Street expectations.
Vail credited the increase in visits and higher lift-ticket prices for a 16 percent jump in net income to $68.3 million, or $1.75 per share, for the three months ending April 30.
That was up from net income of $58.8 million, or $1.61 per share, a year earlier.
Revenue rose 4.3 percent to $341 million from $327 million
The consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial was profit of $1.73 per share on $333.8 million.
WARRENVILLE, Ill.
International Truck, union reach accord
International Truck and Engine Corp., the operating company of Navistar International Corp., said Wednesday it reached a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers union on a new four-year contract.
The deal has to be ratified by the UAW membership. A vote is set for Thursday.
International Truck said details of the contract will not be announced until after the vote.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.
H&R Block profits slide 4.5 percent in quarter
H&R Block said Wednesday that fourth-quarter earnings fell 4.5 percent as the company began restructuring its mortgage business and settled class action litigation surrounding its use of refund-anticipation loans.
For the three months ending April 30, the nation's largest tax preparer reported earnings of $587.5 million, or $1.77 per share, compared with $614.9 million, or $1.83 per share, during the same period a year ago.
Revenue rose 6 percent to $2.5 billion.
NEW YORK
Bond prices slip after Fed officials speak
Treasury bond prices slipped Wednesday, as fixed-income markets responded to continued tough comments on inflation by Federal Reserve officials.
At 5 p.m., the 10-year Treasury note fell 0.16 points from Tuesday. Its yield was 5.02 percent, up from 5.01 percent a day earlier. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
The 30-year bond fell 0.13 points. Its yield rose to 5.09 percent from 5.08 percent.
