Air France plans to exercise options to buy four 777-300ER jets from the Boeing Co., according to a French news agency. A Boeing spokesman confirmed a deal is in the works. The order would be worth more than $900 million at list prices. According to Agence France-Presse, the airline negotiated the option agreement as part of an October 2000 order for 10 of the extended-range jets.
Quarterly earnings fall for Wendy’s
Wendy’s International Inc. on Wednesday reported a loss of $135.7 million for the fourth quarter, attributed mainly to writing down the value of its struggling Baja Fresh Mexican restaurant subsidiary. The restaurant chain expects a pretax expense of $6 million to $9.5 million, or 3 to 5 cents a share, after the accounting change. In its preliminary results, Wendy’s reported a loss of $1.20 a share for the quarter that ended Jan. 2, compared with earnings of $64.7 million, or 56 cents, a year ago.
Home construction at 20-year high
Construction of new homes and apartments across the nation rose 4.7 percent in January to the highest level in more than two decades as low mortgage rates continued to power the housing industry. The Commerce Department reported that builders began construction on 2.16 million units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in January, up from 2.06 million units in December.
WorldCom witness grilled on stand
The star witness against former WorldCom chief Bernard Ebbers was grilled by a defense lawyer Wednesday about lies he admitted telling investors, his own board of directors and federal investigators. In cross-examining Scott Sullivan, who was finance chief under Ebbers, defense lawyer Reid Weingarten appeared to paint him as a master of deception with a wizardly command of accounting.
Flat earnings reported by HP
A week after firing its top executive, Hewlett-Packard Co. reported quarterly earnings that were essentially flat, and its interim chief executive acknowledged, “There is work to be done.” For the three months that ended Jan. 31, HP reported a profit of $943 million, or 32 cents a share, only 0.7 percent above the $936 million, or 30 cents a share, it earned in the first fiscal quarter of 2004.
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