Boeing Co. customer TUI Travel said Tuesday that it intends to cancel an order for 10 787 Dreamliner jets. The travel group will keep 13 787s on order and plans to add options for 13 more, according to a statement on TUI Travel’s Web site. TUI Travel said it expects to receive its first Dreamliner in 2012. Boeing has logged 73 cancellations for its 787, not including TUI’s, already this year. Boeing’s 787 jet is running more than two years behind schedule.
Buyer confidence dips this month
Concerns that consumers won’t help drive a speedy and strong economic recovery only escalated Tuesday after an influential barometer of confidence fell unexpectedly in September. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence survey showed worries about job security seem to be offsetting any enthusiasm about rising home values and stocks. “Last year, consumers were shell-shocked as they worried about what might happen to the economy,” said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo. “Today, shoppers … don’t have the means to step up spending.” The Conference Board, a private research group, said its confidence index dipped to 53.1 in September, down from a revised 54.5 in August. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a reading of 57.
Nike profits static but top expectations
Nike Inc. said Tuesday that as consumers around the globe limited their spending its first-quarter profit was nearly unchanged from a year ago, but it beat expectations. The world’s largest athletic shoe and apparel company reported that it earned $513 million, or $1.04 per share for the quarter that ended Aug. 31. In the same quarter last year, Nike earned $510.5 million, or $1.03 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected, on average, the company to earn 97 cents per share for the quarter on revenue of $4.9 billion. Revenue fell 12 percent to $4.8 billion from $5.4 billion a year earlier, due in part to the negative impact of the stronger dollar.
Nation’s CEOs expect growth in sales
An index measuring the expectations of 107 chief executives from among the nation’s largest companies was at its highest level this year, with more than half expecting sales to grow in the next six months — but their outlook for capital spending remained stagnant, and 40 percent predicted more job cuts. The Business Roundtable said Tuesday its CEO outlook index rose to 44.9 in September from 18.5 in June. In March, the index stood at -5, its lowest reading since the survey began in 2002. A level below 50 is consistent with a shrinking economy. “Right now, we’re beginning to see sales trending up, but not to the level that translates into meaningful gains in capital spending or jobs,” said Ivan Seidenberg, chairman of the association and chief executive of Verizon Communications.
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