Ford Motor Co. officially unloaded its storied Jaguar and Land Rover businesses Monday — netting the cash-strapped automaker a $1.7 billion boost that’s a mere third of what it paid for the two luxury brands. India’s Tata Motors Ltd. said it had completed the purchase of the brands in a deal first announced March 26. Tata is paying about $2.3 billion for the British brands. Ford bought Jaguar for $2.5 billion in 1989 and Land Rover for $2.7 billion in 2000.
Winnebago to close Iowa motor home factory
Motor home manufacturer Winnebago Industries Inc. is closing a factory and eliminating 270 employees. The Charles City, Iowa, plant that makes class C motor homes — smaller units built on a van chassis — is expected to close in August. Winnebago will continue to employ 190 workers in Charles City in other plants. Motor homes sales are expected to be 42 percent less this year than in 2004, when the plant opened.
Economic indicators continue their fall
The manufacturing sector shrank for the fourth consecutive month, construction spending has been falling for more than two years, future orders are down and prices are skyrocketing. The few bright spots, such as strong exports, may be the only things between us and a protracted recession, analysts said on Monday. “It’s exports, and, of course, government spending, that’s keeping us above water,” said John Silvia at Wachovia Corp.
Enron increases creditor payments
Enron says it distributed more than $6 billion in the past month to creditors of the bankrupt energy-trading company, pushing the recovery by creditors to more than 50 cents on the dollar. Enron Creditors Recovery Corp. said Monday that with the latest distributions, creditors of the former Enron Corp. had received 50.3 cents on the dollar, excluded gains, interest and dividends.
T-bill rates mixed in Monday auction
The Treasury Department auctioned three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.82 percent, down from 1.87 percent last week. Six-month bills were auctioned at a discount rate of 1.95 percent, up from 1.92 percent last week. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,953.99 while a six-month bill sold for $9,901.42. Those prices equal an annualized rate of return of 1.854 percent for the three-month bills and 1.997 percent for the six-month bills. Separately, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for changing adjustable-rate mortgages, rose to 2.16 percent last week from 2.09 percent the previous week.
Clarification
On June 11, the Future of Flight Aviation Center will display the plane on which the first successful fuel-cell powered flight is based. The actual aircraft, which the Boeing Co. flew earlier this year, remains in Europe. That was not mentioned in a story that appeared in Monday’s Business section. The museum will display a conventionally powered plane that is essentially identical to one Boeing used except for its engine compartment.
From Herald news services
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