IN BRIEF
Zions Bancorporation posts quarterly loss
Zions Bancorporation, the Salt Lake City-based holding company for Nevada State Bank and other institutions, reported a third-quarter net loss, reversing year-earlier income.
The bank holding company lost $179.5 million, or $1.41 per share, in the three months ended Sept. 30, reversing year-ago earnings of $33.4 million, or 31 cents a share.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a loss of $1.24 per share.
Nonperforming loans, excluding those supported by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., climbed to $2.2 billion from $922 million a year ago. The company charged off $381.3 million in loans and leases, up from $95.3 million in the same period last year.
Zions shares rose 16 cents, or 0.88 percent, Monday to close at $18.33 on the Nasdaq National Market.
NEW YORK
Movie-themed toy sales boost Hasbro
Sales of toys tied to the "G.I. Joe" and "Transformers" movies and cost-cutting drove a third-quarter profit increase for Hasbro. But perhaps more significant are early signs of a pickup in toy sales in recent weeks as the crucial holiday season approaches.
Other strong sellers in the third quarter included Littlest Pet Shop, Play-Doh and Tonka. Sales fell 2 percent during the quarter, or up 1 percent excluding the effect of the stronger dollar.
For the quarter ended Sept. 27, Hasbro said earnings rose to $150.4 million, or 99 cents per share, up from $138.2 million, or 89 cents a share, a year ago.
The latest results top the average analyst estimate of 93 cents a share, as measured by a survey by Thomson Reuters.
Revenue fell 1.5 percent, to $1.28 billion from $1.3 billion.
SEATTLE
IPhone helps Apple profit rise 47 percent
Apple Inc. said its net income rose 47 percent in the most recent quarter as more people bought Mac computers and gave in to the iPhone craze.
In the quarter ended Sept. 30, the iPhone maker earned $1.67 billion, or $1.82 a share, up from $1.14 billion, or $1.26 a share, a year earlier.
Sales rose 25 percent to $9.87 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had expected the company to earn $1.42 a share on sales of $9.2 billion.
Apple unveiled a faster iPhone in June and cut the price of the previous generation of the phone to $99. Those moves boosted iPhone sales from July through September to 7.4 million devices, half a million more than in the same period of 2008.
NEW YORK
Icahn offers $6 billion lifeline to CIT Group
In another sign that CIT Group Inc. is struggling to restructure its debt, billionaire investor Carl Icahn offered the lender a $6 billion lifeline.
In a letter Monday to CIT's board of directors, Icahn said he would give the company the loan to replace a debt restructuring plan CIT has asked bondholders to approve.
Icahn, who is a CIT bondholder, said in his letter the $6 billion loan would save the company $150 million in fees.
WASHINGTON
Agencies financing homebuying to get aid
The Obama administration on Monday unveiled a new program to support state and local housing finance agencies. The plan will help the agencies finance mortgages for first-time homebuyers and develop rental housing.
The agencies have had a hard time raising money because of the housing crisis and credit crunch. This year, the agencies have sold about $4 billion in tax-exempt bonds -- one-fourth the amount in a typical year. That reduction is limiting the number of loans they can make.
LOS ANGELES
Optimism waning for homebuilders
U.S. homebuilders are growing less optimistic about their fortunes as a temporary tax credit for first-time homebuyers that boosted home sales this year nears its end.
The National Association of Home Builders said Monday this month's housing market index, which tracks industry confidence, slipped one point to 18, the first dip since June, when the reading fell to 15.
Builders also are feeling less positive about the likelihood of sales between now and the next six months and said home-shopper foot traffic has softened since September.
NEW YORK
Profit tops outlook for Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments' third-quarter profit and sales Monday inched past the improved expectations the chip maker gave last month, and its largest division, which makes analog chips used in digital music players and other gadgets, saw 20 percent growth for the second quarter in a row.
The company said it earned $538 million, or 42 cents per share, during the quarter, down 4 percent from $563 million, or 43 cents a share, a year earlier.
Analysts polled by Bloomberg predicted profit of 40 cents a share on revenue of $2.79 billion.
Sales fell 15 percent, to $2.88 billion from $3.39 billion amid the economic downturn that's hurt chip demand across the board.
NEW YORK
Target enters fray in book-price battle
Target Corp. has thrown itself into a heated price war on books expected to be top sellers.
The discounter said Monday that it will offer some of this season's most-anticipated book titles at $8.99, in line with recent moves by Walmart.com and Amazon.com.
Target says the price applies to preorders on Target.com of such books as "Breathless" by Dean Koontz, "Ford Country" by James Patterson and "Under the Dome" by Stephen King.
The book battle started Thursday, when Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said its Web site would charge just $10, with free shipping, for such upcoming hardcover releases as Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" and John Grisham's "Ford County," 60 percent or more off the regular cost.
Amazon.com, the largest online book seller, then matched the prices.
